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MEMOIR 



OF 



HIS HONOE SAMUEL PHILLIPS, LL. D. 



BT 



REV. JOHN L. TAYLOR, 

ANDOVEB, MA^S. 



'finis Obioinj: pendet. 






BOSTON : 
CONGKEGATIONAL BOARD OF PUBLICATION, 

16 XREMONT TEMPLE. 
1856. 



F. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by 

SEWALL HARDING, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



CAMBRfDGE: 
ALLEN AND FAENHAM, STEKEOTYPEBS AND PKINTEE3 



PREFACE. 



The effort to exhume from the past such relics as may 
serve to portray, with any degree of justice, the character of 
one whom his contemporaries rather admired than ventured 
to describe, is unique. It may seem presumptuous as well as 
arduous : yet with a fitting subject, it has some peculiar at- 
tractions. The antiquarian vein is struck ; interesting his- 
torical reminiscences blend with it; incidents of the times 
will reflect their light upon the subject to be sketched in the 
foreground of the pictm'c ; facts worthy of note in topogra- 
phy interweave themselves with it ; the causes of things are 
laid open in the light of their effects ; the study of " endless 
genealogies " will beguile some passing hours ; the writer and 
reader will stand amid the scenes, and inhale the air of 
ancestral virtues ; the pure, the good, the true, will appear in 
its fine essence, divorced by time from the passions and 
prejudices to which it was wedded. 

Yet, the expediency of such an undertaking must depend 

upon the urgency of the occasion for it, and the aims with 

(iii) 



IV PREFACE. 

which it is prosecuted. How far these considerations may 
justly be considered as weighing in the case of this woric, 
the work itself must witness. It has been prepared under 
advantages of position and relation to the subject which it 
would be ungrateful not to recognize, while yet impeded by 
great embarrassments, from incessant interruption and fre- 
quent suspension, under the continual pressure of numerous 
other cares. 

Much of the work has been of special delicacy, from its 
connection with the living as well as the dead. To the vari- 
ous members of the family of Judge Phillips's descendants, 
and to some others, many acknowledgments are due for 
their courtesy in furnishing the manuscripts which have 
been used. 

It may be thought that some chapters in the Memoir are 
too full, and others too brief; or that in some other respect a 
due proportion has not been preserved between the different 
topics. It was, however, supposed that not only the propor- 
tion, but the order and sequence of the various points as 
they appear, would on the whole best subserve the chief ends 
of the volume. So great a departure from a strict chrono- 
logical arrangement as will be here discovered, and such a 
grouping of widely scattered facts to illustrate in succession 
separate phases of the character and life, must be considered 
in itself undesirable ; yet no other method seemed fitted to 
give such vividness as this, with its occasional repetitions, to 
one's impression of the extraordinary man to be described, in 
the great prominence and variety of his characteristics : and 



• PREFACE. V 

no other would allow such freedom as was desired in the 
occasional interweaving of collateral incidents, or in sketch- 
ing contemporaneous and kindred personages, as well as 
events. 

Had the book been written for any one class, large por- 
tions of it might have been omitted, but as now completed, 
what may seem a mere incumbrance to one, without interest 
and worthless, may possibly be of some value to another ; 
there may be a local or a personal interest where it cannot be 
general. The utmost care has been taken to secure the copy 
from errors, yet it is not improbable that some will be de- 
tected. 

In the letter press and embellishments of the work, includ- 
ing the portraits of Judge Phillips and of Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor William Phillips, the writer has been anxious to give 
it a dress worthy of the subject, at whatever cost ; and the 
Board of Publication, in their liberality and good taste, have 
left him nothing to desire, but that they may have their 
reward. 

Andover, September 1, 1856 

A* 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER L 

ANCESTRY. 

Rev. George Phillips of Watertown. — Rev. Samuel Phillips of Rowley. — 
Samuel Phillips, Esquire, of Salem. — Rev. Samuel Phillips of An- 
dover . . . pp. 1-10 

CHAPTER 11. 

BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD. 

His parents, Samuel and Elizabeth Phillips. — The Old French War. — 
Only surviving child. — Eifect on his character. — Bias toward study. 

— Amiableness. — Predominating seriousness 1 1-16 

CHAPTER III. 

ACADEMIC LIFE. 

Fitting for College. — Byfield Academy and Master Moody. — Frail health. 

— Application. — Correctness of deportment. — Religious tendencies and 
traits . " : 17-19 

CHAPTER IV. 

COLLEGE TEARS. 

Enters College at Cambridge. — Character for studiousness and moral up- 
rightness. — Class mates. — RAnk according to family. — Curious ques- 

(vii) 



Vm CONTENTS. 

tion of priority. — Promoted. — Incessant application. — Ideas of time. 
College journal. — Stamp Act and other political scenes. — Activity in 
Societies. — Graduates. — Salutatory Oration. — Letter to bis father on 
entertaining his friends 20-30 

CHAPTER V. 

MARRIAGE. 

Acquaintance with Miss Foxcroft. — Their attachment. — Disparity of 
years. — Opposition of his parents. — Severe illness. — "A wounded 
spirit." — Objections waived. — Marriage. — Settlement at Nortli An- 
dover 31-34 

CHAPTER VI. 

PATRIOTISM. 

Revolutionary impulses at Cambridge and Boston. — Interest in passing 
discussions and contests. — British troops. — General Court in Cam- 
bridije. — Boston Massacre. — Patriotic dissertation. — Excitement in 
the Colonies. — Effect of these influences on his mind and pursuits. — 
Engages in the great struggle. — Elected Town Clerk and Treasurer. 
— Town Meetings of Andover. — Resolves. — His father's interest in 
ihe stru2<rle. — Elected to the Provincial Congress at Watertown. — 
Activity in Committees and in debate. — Notice of the Congress. — 
Members. — Spirit. — Siege of Boston. — Great exigency for want of 
powder. — Washington, Putnam, etc. — Ari'anges Avith the Government 
to erect a powder-mill. — Importance of this aid. — Interest in retiring 
soldiers. — Self-denial ........ 35-75 

CHAPTER VII. 

CIVIL SERVICE. 

Member of the Constitutional Convention. — Notice of the Convention and 
its labors. — His prominence. — On Committee to draft the Constitu- 
tion. — Debates. — Constitution adopted. — Election under it as Sena- 
tor. — Api)ointed Judge. — Time and importance of his judicial ser- 



CONTENTS. IX 

vice. — Address to Grand-Jury. — Senatorial career. — President of 
Senate. — Commission to treat with insurgents in Shays' Rebellion. — 
Success of the embassy. — Elected Lieutenautrgovernor. — French 
aggressions. — Letter to President Adams and Reply. — Extract from 
an Oration by his son. — Inclination to military service in the exi- 
gency under Lieutenant-general Washington . . . 76-103 

CHArTER VIIL 

BUSINESS. 

Private affairs. — Tact and energy. — Vigilance. — I'arms and wild lands. 
■ — Stores. — Mills. — Night journeys. — Broken leg. — Exposure of 
health. — Acquisition of estate 104-109 

CHAPTER IX. 

HOME. 

Domestic life. — Removal to South Parish. — Mansion-house erected. — 
Perils to his life. — Correspondence with Madam Phillips. — Character- 
istics of the writers. — His eldest son. — Letters. — College life and hon- 
ors. — Graduation. — Salutatory Oration. — Marriage. — His younger 
son. — Letters. — Character. — Death. — Social position and influence. 

— Visit of Washington to him in his Presidential tour. — Incidents and 
reminiscences. — Letters at Washington's death . . 110-184 

CHAPTER X. 

EDUCATION. 

Love of learning in the PhilUps family. — His special efforts in promoting 
it. — Interest in schools of the town. — Master Foster's school. — At- 
tention to school laws as Judge. — Overseer of Plarvard University. — 
Address to students. — Deij-rce of LL. D. — Plans and orltrinates 7Vu7- 
lij)s Academy. — His iavorite work. — Originated in the midst of war. 

— Endowed by his ftither and uncle. — The site of the School. — The 
Constitution. — Opening. — Act of Incorporation. — Arnold's Treason. 

— Hard winter. — Dark Day. — " Andover Hill." — Intlueuce in orig- 



X CONTENTS. 

inating Plnllips Exeter Academy. — • Correspondence with Dr. Phillips. 

— Founding and Opening of Phillips Exeter Academy. — New Acad- 
emy building at Andover. — Further correspondence with Dr. Phillips. 

— Charitable donation of Dr. Phillips. — Sketch of the Founders, Sarn- 
uel Phillips^ Esq., of North Andover, and Hon. John Phillips, LL.D., 
of Exeter ; also of their brother, Hon. WUliain Phillips, of Boston. — 
Their donations. — Prosperity and celebrity of the Academy. — State 
grants. — Sons of nephews of Washington. — Letter of Washington and 
Hejjly. — Number of pupils in Judge Phillips's lifetime. — Later his- 
tory of the Academy. — Notice of His Honor William Phillips, of Bos- 
ton. — Character. — Donations. — Expansion of the Institution. — The- 
ological students In It. — Theological Department endowed. — Eng- 
lish Department originated. — Whole number educated In the various 
Departments. — Religious spirit pervading the course of study In 
all 185-264 

CHAPTER XL 

KELIGION. 

Eellgious education. — Church connections. — Letters to his cousin on 
making a profession of religion. — Letters to his son on coming of age, 

— on Family Prayer and other religious topics. — Charitable endow- 
ments. — Religious characteristics 265-312 



o 



ciiaptp:r xii. 

DECEASE. 

Decline. — Death. — Parting mementos. — Funeral. — Tiibutes. — Remi- 
niscences. — Dr. Tappan, Dr. Dwight, Hon. Joslah Quincy, — this Me- 
morial 313-331 



APPENDIX. 

Rev. George Phillips of Watertown. — Rev. Samuel PhiUIps of Rowley. — 
Rev. Samuel Phillips of Andover and his children. — Samuel Phillips, 



CONTENTS. XI 

Esq. of North Andover and his children. — Social rank of Samuel riiil- 
lips, Jr., in College. — Extract from College records. — Addresses to 
Washington. — Diploma as LL. D. — Abstract of Deeds of " Andover 
Hill." — Act of Incorporation of Phillips Academy. — Phillips Exeter 
Academy. — Lands in Maine. — Grant of General Court. — Constitution 
of the Theological Seminary 333-391 



M E M O I E. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE ANCESTRY OF LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR SAMUEL PHILLIPS. 

" The memory of the just is blessed : " whoever has 
personally known the late Lieutenant-Governor Sam- 
uel Phillips, or has had occasion to study his character 
and life with much care, must have often been im- 
pressed with the vigorous tenacity and freshness with 
which his name still lives. During his comparatively 
short but most active and useful life, he with so much 
individuality, consistency, and symmetry, exhibited the 
essential traits of an attractive and noble character, 
that at his death the most affecting and emphatic trib- 
utes were paid to him, in every variety of form, from 
men of all ranks and parties ; and it is impossible now, 
after the lapse of more than half a century, to speak 
of him to a survivor of that generation, without ex- 
citing an outburst of enthusiasm in praise of his rare 
virtues. 

1 (i> 



4 MEMOIR OF 

wlien he stepped on board the Arbella with his heart's 
treasures by his side to the day of his death, he was 
a leader in the councils of the Church and the State. 
During the voyage he made arrangements for cate- 
chizing and preaching regularly, as the virtual pastor 
of the company ; and at an early day after their ar- 
rival, notwithstanding his great bereavement in the 
death of his wife, he went forth with the boldest and 
hardiest to begin a new settlement at a place on 
Charles River which they named Watertown. Here, 
for fourteen years, he expended the wealth of his rare 
learning, wisdom, and zeal, for the welfare of the town 
and of the rising Commonwealth, until his sudden death 
in 1G44, at the age of fifty-one. 

It is implied in various contemporary notices of him, 
that in his views of church polity he was a pioneer, for 
a time far in advance of his brethren in the ministry ; 
having by careful study of the Scriptures early been 
brought to adopt the main features of Congregation- 
alism, in distinction from the two extremes of Prelacy 
and Independency. These convictions in regard to 
ecclesiastical polity made him also a zealous republi- 
can in civil affairs; in all the important deliberations 
and decisions of the colony, in which the well-adjusted 
fabric of our free government originated, his counsel 
was sought, and had great weight. Thus, by the force 
of his own independent and originating character, as 
well as under the influence of a great popular move- 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. O 

ment toward full civil and religious liberty, lie not only 
became eminent in his own day, but lives still in the 
type which he gave to his wide spread and remarkable 
family, and in the whole civil and religious order of 
the State which he was so active in founding.^ At 
his death, " he was much lamented by his church, who 
expressed their respect to his memory by educating 
his eldest son,"^ Samuel PhilUps, who was born in 
1625, at Boxted, England, the place of his father's 
early labors in the ministry, and brought to this coun- 
try when but five years old. He graduated at Har- 
vard College in 1650 ; and in 1651, was settled in the 
ministry at Rowley, as colleague of Rev. Ezekiel Rog- 
^ers, where he continued to labor with great acceptance 
and usefulness for a period of forty-five years, until 
his decease, at the age of seventy-one, in 1696. 

In 1678, he preached the election sermon before the 
general court of the province. In 1687, his faithful 
reproof of iniquity involved him in a temporary per- 
secution, and he was imprisoned " for calling Randolph 
a wicked man." His piety and talents are spoken of 
as being " of no common order." His widow, though 
they had been married from the very commencement 
of his ministry in 1651, survived him nearly eighteen 

^ See Appendix A. 

^ Allen's Biog. Die. p. 476. This statement of Allen has been 
lately questioned. See Bond's Genealogies and History of Water- 
town, p. 874. 

1* 



6 MEMOIROF 

years, so that their grandson, Rev. Samuel PJiilUps of 
Andover, preached her funeral sermon. The orighial 
manuscript of this discourse is now in our hands. Of 
his revered grandmother, the j)i'eacher says, " she was 
an early seeker of God, and spent much of her tone 
daily in reading the word and in prayer. . . . She took 
great care of her children's souls ; she could say that 
which one in ten of God's children could not, namely, 
I hiow the time of mij conversion. She was always hum- 
ble and penitent ; and as she lived, so she died, depend- 
imz: on Christ for riy-hteousness and salvation." This 
incidental mention of her special religious watchful- 
ness and solicitude in her children's behalf, in connec- 
tion with the ornament of her own meek and quiet 
spirit, shows with what unity of counsels and efibrts 
these most estimable parents transmitted to their pos- 
terity the type of character to which they had them- 
selves been so carefully trained ; so that not only 
children, but children's children, were rising up and 
calling them blessed.^ 

Kev. Samuel Phillips, of Andover, their grandson, 
(in the line of descent from their elder son Samuel, 
who had settled in business at Salem, while a younger 
brother, George, devoted himself to study, and entered 
the ministry,) whom we thus meet at their grave, pay- 
ing his tribute of aflectionate homage to their virtues, 

^ See Appendix B. 




AD ir,,-, 



IWSmifhi Sc- 



J'^h-a^^ 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 7 

here rises before us in character> and mien, and man- 
ner of life, which strongly impress us. In his individu- 
ality, simplicity, decision, energy, strength, and pristine 
hardiness of character, he abated nothing from the 
spirit of his worthy ancestors. He was, like them, also 
a model of industry, and frugality, and resolute self- 
restraint, and order, in all that he did. His portrait, 
which hangs before us, bespeaks a man of authority, 
born to command, and knowing his birthright ; and 
such was he, in an eminent degree, a conscious and 
acknowledged leader wherever he was known. Born 
at Salem, February 17, 1689-90 ; and graduating at 
Harvard College in 1708, he was, at the early age of 
twenty-two, ordained the first pastor of the second 
church^ in Andover, on the 17th of October, 1711, the 
church having been on that day organized in the 
South Precinct.^ There is yet living a parishioner 
of his, hale and vigorous, in the ninety-first year of 
his good old age,^ who distinctly remembers the ven- 
erable pastor's calls on horseback at his father's door, 
with madam on a pillion behind him, which was their 
usual mode of making parochial visits in company. It 
was his habit, in the regular services of the sabbath, 



^ The present Old South Church. 
^ See Appendix C. 

^ Mr. Moses Abbott, born November 30, 1765, and baptized by 
Rev. Mr. Phillips, the Lord's day following, December 1. 



8 MEMOIROF 

to preach to tlie full hour's end, measurmg his dis- 
course by the sands of the glass at his side. One tenth 
of his scanty income he regularly and religiously gave 
to the jDOor, or to other objects of charity ; and out of 
his estate at his death he bequeathed one hundred 
pounds in trust for the benefit of the poor in the 
church of which he had been pastor, and one hundred 
230unds " for y® pious and charitable use of propagat- 
ing Christian knowledge among the Indians of North 
America." His will, making bequests in detail to these 
charitable ol)jects, and to his wife, children, and grand- 
children, and executed when he was seventy-four years 
of age, is remarkably minute and exact in its specifi- 
cations, closing with these characteristic words, expres- 
sive of the spirit which he had sought, and still wished, 
to breathe into his children : — 

" And now my desire and prayer is y* my s** three sons 
may continue to live in love, and y' they still behave respect- 
fully and dutifully towards their aged tender and good 
mother, even unto the end ; and y* they go on to shew kind- 
ness to y^ motherless children of their beloved sister Lydia ; 
and, in a word, that they make it their care to be found in 
Christ, and to serve their generation according to y^ will 
of God, by doing good as they shall have opportunity unto 
all men, and especially to y^ household of faith ; as knowing 
y* it is more blessed to give than to receive." 

This " aged tender and good mother," the " daugh- 
ter of the worshipful John White, Esq., of Haver- 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. \) 

hill," survived him only about two years, expiring 
in the bosom of her son Samuel's family, January 
7, 1773 ; the Eev. Mr. Phillips himself having deceased 
June 5, 1771, at the age of eighty-one, after a pasto- 
rate but little short of sixty years, and a ministry of 
nearly sixty-two years, with the same people, and with- 
out a colleague, retaining his vigor and his command- 
ing hold upon the respect and affection of his people 
to the last. During the course of his ministry, he pub- 
lished numerous occasional sermons, which evince his 
ability and faithfulness. In accordance with his me- 
thodical exactness in every thing, his discourses, as 
preached to his people year after year, were all care- 
fully numbered and filed away in successive volumes, 
large numbers of which are still preserved ; his hand- 
writing, even to the latest stroke of his pen, was re- 
markably neat and legible, though often in extremely 
small characters, never giving any indications of haste 
or of carelessness. In passing from the parsonage to 
the meeting-house for divine worship on the sabbath, 
as remembered now by eye-witnesses, flanked by his 
black body servant on the left, and by madam and her 
servant and the children on the right, his movements 
were precise and stately, as became his ideal of the 
ministerial office ; and when he entered the sanctuary, 
it was in meet reverence for the man of God, as well 
as in compliance with the old custom of the day, that 
the whole congregation rose and stood before him 



10 MEMOIR OF JUDGE PHILLIPS. 

until he had seated himself in the pulpit. So he lived 
and passed away ; worthy to be esteemed by his peo- 
ple, as Mather tells us his ancestor at Watertown was, 
" the irrefragable doctor." ^ 

The three sons mentioned in his will, as referred to 
above, Samuel, John, and William^ had already, even 
before his decease, by their own energy and sagacity, 
won for themselves a prominent place in society, and 
were now, in the prime of life, showing the far-reaching 
power of that exact yet liberal and high-toned disci- 
pline to which he had subjected them. The sketch 
which these will successively claim at our hands, is 
reserved for a later stage of our narrative ; and we 
pass now to the chief subject of this memoir, the 
grandson of Rev. Samuel Phillips of Andover, (in the 
line of his eldest son Samuel, also of Andover,) His 
Honor, Samuel Phillips, the LieidenmU- Governor. 

^ Magnalia, Book III. p. 84. 
^ See Appendix C. 



CHAPTER II. 



HIS BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD. 



It will be seen from the preceding brief statements, 
that there descended upon his young spirit, at his birth, 
the richest legacy of ancestral virtues and memories. 
How far he was touched by the inspiration of such an 
influence, and how worthily he reflected and trans- 
mitted it, not only undiminished but in even fairer 
lustre, the story of his life will testify, though wanting 
the breadth and power of that life itself as it was 
everywhere impressed upon his times. 

He was the son of Samuel and Elizabeth Phillips, 
of Andover, born February 5, 1752 ; the youngest but 
one of seven children, and the only one that lived to 
adult age} It was at the beginning of this year that 
the change in our calendar was made by an Act of 
Parliament, from the Old Style to the New Style,^ 
which may explain the discrepancies in different no- 
tices of the date of his birth. The house in which he 
was born is still in the family, occupied by the widow 

^ See Appendix D : — 

2 Holmes's Annals, Vol. II. p. 189. 

(11) 



12 MEMOIR OP 

and daughters of his elder son ; ^ a spacious and ven- 
erable mansion, with few marks of the century of win- 
ters that have beaten upon it. At the birth of young 
Samuel this home had just been completed ; the family 
having removed to it from their old house only two 
or three weeks before. It was in a portion of this edi- 
fice that his father continued his business as a mer- 
chant, adding, year after year, to the very considerable 
fortune which he had received with the hand of Miss 
Barnard ^ as his bride. At that time, this portion of 
Andover could scarcely be called a village, and the 
mansion and store of Mr. Phillips were the centre of 
resort for a wide spread agricultural community in 
the region which embraces much the richest lands 
of the ancient town. The native deer were then 

^ Several months after these pages were written, and when they 
were nearly ready for the press, Mrs. Phillips was called to her final 
rest. It had been one cherished hope with us, that we might contrib- 
ute to her gratification, in this effort to commemorate those whom 
she so much revered and loved ; but instead of this, her decease has 
reminded us, as we have gone with others down to the family tomb 
atid gazed on the garnered dust of those whose names we seek to 
honor, how soon every one who could aid us, as she did by invaluable 
personal reminiscences, must be numbered with the dead. That the 
work we have undertaken was begun before the last relic of that 
generation was removed, is well ; but we can never cease to regret 
that it was commenced so late. 

* Elizabeth Barnard, daughter of Theodore Barnard, and grand- 
daughter of Rev. Thomas Barnard. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 13 

roaming abundant in the forests of the town, and 
deer-reeves were annually appointed, as regularly as 
the selectmen, as they were elsewhere in the prov- 
ince. It was amid such rural quiet, industry, thrift, 
and beauty, with the variety and quickening stimulus 
of merchant life at home, under the eye and borne 
upon the chastened heart of the tenderest parental 
watchfulness, that the early days of young Phillips 
opened. 

Yet in contrast with these daily home scenes, 
there was another current of influence pouring in 
upon his child-life, which, as subsequent events show, 
strongly impressed and tinged his character. The con- 
tinued encroachments of the French were now pre- 
cipitating a decisive rupture between them and Eng- 
land ; and soon the old French war, as it is commonly 
termed, broke out. For ten years the excitement of 
this contest continued to agitate the country, the cit- 
izens of Massachusetts being ever foremost in zeal for 
the common liberty and safety. The summer of 1755, 
when Samuel was a child of three years, was the era 
of Braddock's defeat, of the capture of Nova Scotia 
by the Massachusetts forces, and the repulse of Baron 
Dieskau on the banks of Lake George,^ so that the 
earliest and most exciting stories which fired his im- 
agination were of war, — war, not in the spirit of con- 

1 Holmes's Annals, Vol. II. p. 204-217. 

2 



14 M E M I R F 

quest or military glory, but in the calm energy of 
patriotism, — war for the soil and the institutions of 
his country, — for hearth, home, liberty, and life itself 
His father was every inch a patriot ; a man to feel 
strongly but calmly every great bearing of such a 
struggle, and by word and deed to imj)art his spirit 
to the son of his hopes. As the strife wore on with 
varying fortunes through the whole period of his 
childhood, the name of Washington w^as continually 
heralded to him as the rising star of hope, to be cher- 
ished only with increasing veneration every succeed- 
ing year. 

In these early but long continued impressions, we 
find the origin and explanation of traits in his charac- 
ter, and of enterprises in his Hfe, which had well nigh 
made him simply a bold revolutionary statesman, or a 
brave military leader. Yet the ancestral bias in the 
family toward a literary life, together with his frail 
constitution, which seemed unsuited to physical hard- 
ship, would appear to have countervailed, in a good 
degree, all such attractions of the forum or the camp. 
The fact, too, that his parents had been called to bury 
all their other children, made him an object of special 
tenderness. While, therefore, by the whole force of 
their own simple, exact, frugal, busy life, they were 
training him up a gentle, amiable, active, winning boy, 
fond of business and of books, the plan of giving him 
a liberal education, as his most congenial line of life, 
was early matured. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 15 

To be an only child, intent on manly studies, in 
a family of the strictest method in all its life, could 
hardly fail to make one sedate, grave, orderly, and 
manhke beyond his years, — and least of all, a boy 
of his temperament. Had the glee of brothers and 
sisters rung often in his ears, to keep ahve the 
freshness of boy nature ; had the goodly home been 
more astir with childish chat and incident, — the 
parents looking ever gladly on the full circle, instead 
of meekly bowing to their desolate lot, — this darling 
son would, we cannot doubt, have been longer a child 
and later a man ; he might also have been more robust, 
under the stimulus of sports and gambols that invig- 
orate the frame, as well as of emotions that swell every 
nerve and muscle with the fire of their own hfe. But 
the good hand of Providence had not so ordered his 
path. 

Growing up in comparative solitariness, — his com- 
panions not only in the main his elders, but his re- 
vered parents, who were now approaching the merid- 
ian of life, wearing the subdued expression of mourn- 
ers, and proverbial for the strictness of their habits, — 
it would have been little less than a miracle, if he had 
not soon come to be spoken of as an uncommonly 
grave and considerate boy ; a remarkably systematic, 
industrious, mature child, full of bright promise in kin- 
dred virtues for the future. 

With such marked traits, early germinating, and as 



IG MEMOIR OF JUDGE PHILLIPS. 

rare in degree as in kind, he appears to have prepared 
the way in his very boyhood for that self-consistent 
ascendency, which, in his opening manhood, he had 
gained over his father and other relatives. He had 
not gone out from under the parental roof before the 
elements of his character, as afterwards perfected, were 
distinctly visible ; and from what he was then, a boy 
of a dozen summers, he never departed an iota, except 
to add virtue to virtue. 

From his father alone he might have received, in 
both constitution and education, his early habits of 
prudence and exactness, his deep sense of justice, his 
patriotic impulses, his tenacity of purpose, and his ad- 
mirable self-government ; but from his mother, it is 
said, he inherited the fire which glowed in all these 
virtues, the nervous restlessness, wliich not only im- 
pelled but in the end consumed him, the enterprise, 
the fertility of invention, the self-immolating spmt, 
and withal the serenity and suavity of manner with 
which he spent himself in the various plans of his life. 
From both he drew the strength of a calm, practical, 
devout, religious faith. 



CHAPTEE III. 

HIS PREPAEATION FOR COLLEGE. 

At the age of thirteen, in the spring of 1765, he 
repaired to Dummer Academy, in Byfield, (which had 
been established in 1763, in accordance with the will 
of Lieutenant-Governor William Dummer, devising his 
estate for that purpose,) ^ and commenced fitting for 
college under the instruction of Samuel Moody, Esq. 
Here, one who had the best means of information 
resjDCcting him says, "his proficiency, his manliness 
and sobriety and regular conduct, secured the es- 
teem and confidence of his instructor and fellow- 
students." ^ 

His health, however, was not firm; in a letter to 
his mother, dated June 25, 1765, he speaks of a com- 
plaint under which he had sufiered as subsiding, and 
adds : — 

^ This Academy was not incorporated until October 3, 1782, two 
years later than Phillips Academy, at Andover, and more than a 
year after Phillips Exeter Academy. 

^ Mr. Abbot, in his History of Andover, p. 144. 

2* (17) 



18 MEMOIR OF 

" I have asked Mr. Moody about boarding with hira, but 
he is so full at present that he is not determined ; shall de- 
pend upon your coming this week, or at farthest the begin- 
ning of next week ; the horse is orderly, I should have sent 
him by Jonathan Gage, but he came in a chair and could 
not lead him. I could have brought him home a Saturday, 
but you said, if Oliver did not come, I need not concern my- 
self any thing about it ; should be exceeding glad to see you 
as soon as possible. Mr. Moody gives his compliments to 
father, and thinks that it is very necessary that I should have 
a horse here, considering my health, and the heat of the 
season." 

This letter, which is the earliest we have been able 
to obtain from his hand, is subscribed Samuel Phillips 
3d, his aged grandfather having lived until a few 
weeks before he graduated from college. The hand- 
writing is here unformed, but plain, and it is inter- 
esting to notice how by an occasional erasure or in- 
terlineation the diction is improved, showing at what 
an early period he began to pay special attention to 
his style. 

While connected with the Academy his religious 
character, as well as his mental discipline, was matur- 
ing rapidly ; so that, when admitted to college, it was 
with the best safeguard against its temptations, and 
an eager desire to profit by its advantages ; although 
his public profession of religion w^as deferred until his 
Junior year in college, when he was admitted to the 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 19 

church of which his father was then deacon, in North 
Andover, February 3, 1770. When this step was 
taken, as it was the result of long deliberation, so as 
the record shows he did not shrink from standing: 
ahne in it, before all who had known him from his 
birth. 



CHAPTER IV. 

mS COLLEGIATE LIFE. 

From the Academy he was transferred directly to 
the University at Cambridgej when but fifteen years 
old, where his father, his uncle John, his grandfather 
Samuel, his great-great-uncle George, and his great- 
greatrgrandfather Samuel Phillips, had been educated 
before him. "He entered college," we are assured, as 
we should have predicted, "with a habit of applica- 
tion and order, and with a high sense of moral feel- 
ing and love of learning." ^ 

When his class graduated in 1771, it was much 
the largest that had ever gone forth from the insti- 
tution, and none so large left it again until 1810. It 
was also distinguished, then and afterwards, as a class, 
for talent as well as numbers. Hon. James Bowdoin, 
afterwards United States minister to Spain, David Par- 
sons, David Tappan, Zedekiah Sanger, David Osgood, 
Jonathan French, all of whom became eminent as min- 
isters of the gospel, Winthrop Sargent, subsequently 
governor of Mississippi, and John Warren, the first 

^ History of Andover, p. 144. 
(20) 



MEM OIK OF JUDGE PHILLIPS. 21 

Hersey Professor of Anatomy and Surgery in the Col- 
lege, were among his class mates, and some of them 
his most intimate friends. 

In those days the members of a class were arranged, 
at their exercises and on the catalogue, not alphabet- 
ically, nor according to their relative scholarshijo, but 
in conformity with the current family rank of the 
students. It is an honorable testimony to the consid- 
eration in which his father was held, that in a class 
of sixty-three the name of his son should stand, as it 
does, the seventh ; evidence, too, of the weight which 
was then attached to the question of rai^k, as also of 
this father's tenacity in maintaining his rights, is given 
in the circumstance that the Faculty of the College 
who had at first made young Phillips's grade the eighth, 
were constrained by his father's energetic protest and 
appeal, to modify their decision by a formal vote, and 
place him one name higher ! ^ — a transaction so pe- 
culiar and alien to the then dawning republicanism of 
the times, as to have led to the disuse of this artificial 
system of designating rank, soon after he graduated, 
when a new President of the College had been inau- 
gurated. 

During the college life of young Phillips, there is 
abundant traditional and documentary testimony to his 



* See Appendix E. Also Quincy's Hist. H. U. Vol. II. p. 157- 
158. 



22 MEMOIR OF 

great diligence, and his eminent position as a scholar. 
It is reported to us, as the unanimous testimony of his 
school mates in early life, that he was naturally slow 
to learn, but incessant in his application, and of an 
exceedingly tenacious memory ; so that his studious- 
ness made ample amends for any want of native 
quickness of parts. The fragment of a brief journal, 
mainly religious, which he kept, covering more than 
two years of his collegiate course, is still preserved, 
in which there are frequent references to the value 
which he set upon his opportunities, but especially 
upon time ; .expressed, ordinarily, in the form of hum- 
ble self-reproach, thus : — 

" February 25, 1768. — I am confounded when I think of 
my misimprovement of my time." 

" April 3, 1769. — Have improved my time better than 
sometimes, tho' have misspent a vast deal of it, espe- 
cially evenings by sleeping ; but with deeper concern I may 
inquire, how I have neglected my soul's concern. The chil- 
dren of Christ can be known only by their fruits ; and what 
fruit have I brought forth ? have I not great reason to fear 
that I am not a Christian, that I have nothing but a profes- 
sion ? Let me be fervent in my petitions for the Divine assist- 
ance, and diligent in my watchfulness to guard against sin." 

" May 13, 1769. — Time once gone, is gone for ever. We 
take no notice of it, but by its loss ; how short ! and of what 
vast importance is a diligent improvement of it." 

" November 25, 1769. — I am very thankful I went to Bos- 
ton, for by that means, I escaped being in a great confusion 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 23 

in the hall ; such revelling is most unfit for a day for offering 
the sacrifices of thankful hearts to the Great Benefactor. 
" This week I have been more diligent than any other 
before since I came down, but have let slip many precious 
moments unimproved." 

These reiterated and intense upbraidings, instead 
of being evidence of any special misimprovement of 
his time and opportunities, show us rather how keenly 
he had already learned to feel the loss of a single 
golden hour, — how resolutely he was holding himself 
to the best possible use of every moment, — and we 
shall see that this high sense of the worth of time 
grew ere long into a consuming passion with him. 

When chastening his spirit and desponding under 
his sense of defect in this manner, a line from his gen- 
tle mother would sometimes come to calm him, by di- 
recting him to the true source of rest. She writes, 
March 7, 1768: — 

" I hope your various employments won't take your mind 
from the things of the greatest moment ; there is no compare 
between time and eternite, between the favour of God and 
the friendship of the world. You are in the midst of temp- 
tations, enemies within as well as enemies without. I com- 
mit you to the care of a kind Providence, — keep your mind 
easy, it will be much for your advantage upon all accounts ; 
endeavour to conduct so as to lay no foundation for unea- 
siness. 

" I remain your ever affectionate mother, 

Elizabeth Phillips." 



24 M E M I II OF 

His intense jealousy of himself in regard to the use of 
time, although one of his most prominent characteristics 
at this period, was blended with a kindred self-scrutiny 
in regard to his manners, his morals, his interior relig- 
ious life, his controlling aims and motives, which in 
one yet so young are very extraordinary. How much, 
for example, is indicated by the following brief para- 
graphs in his journal. 

" August 28, 1768. — I am now beginning another week ; 
may I be enabled to perform in the best manner (for a frail 
creature) my duty to God, my fellow-creatures, and myself." 

" September 17, 1768. — The week past my father and 
mother were at Boston, and on Thursday I went to Boston, 
when my father bought for me several books ; how thankful 
should I be for these favors ! How ought my soul to ex- 
pand with gratitude, and in what better manner can I de- 
monstrate it than by a virtuous, studious life ! How can I 
answer it, if I neglect these golden seasons ; now is the time, 
and the only time, to gain those accomplishments, on which 
my future usefulness will in a great measure depend." 

" December 10^ 1768. — I have heard my grandfather this 
week was so indisposed that it was not supposed he would 
get about again ; may I make it my business to be prepared 
for the agonies of dissolving nature." 

" December 17, 1768. — This week I have seen my father ; 
it refreshed my spirits. What an affection there is between 
father and son, which nothing but death can dissolve I but 
is my soul so attached to my Heavenly Father ? My heart 
often expands with gratitude for his liberality, but do I med- 
itate on my continual uninterrupted obligations to the Father 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 25 

of lights ? It is to him I am indebted for the favors I re- 
ceive from my earthly parents." 

" February 25, 1769. — Have enjoyed less tranquillity of 
mind since I left home than any term before. My great 
foible is a readiness to open my soul ; to-day my chum and 
I had some variance about his birthday, but I hope that 
maxim, in this instance, will prove true, ' the falling out of 
lovers is the renewing of love.' " 

" March 11, 1769. — How cautious should we be of giving 
causes of offence to one another ! Whereby can the chil- 
dren of God more distinguish themselves than by a meek, 
loving, forgiving temper towards each other ? " 

" March 25, 1769. — Last Monday evening was observed 
here as the anniversary of the repeal of the Stamp Act ; but 
the fatigue that I experienced therefor is folly ; I have mis- 
spent a vast deal of precious time." 

" August 19, 1769. — I have spent this vacancy very differ- 
ently from my purpose ; made no addition to my little stock 
of knowledge, only gained a little farther knowledge of the 
world." 

" December 9, 1769. — Many valuable thoughts are gone 
entirely, for, want of proper care to lay them up or fix them 
in the noble repository of the soul." 

What various and pithy utterances for a youth of 
seventeen years ! But young and self-distrusting as he 
was, in that large class he held at this time an ac- 
knowledged ascendency. In a notice of him, written 
soon after his death, it is said^ of his character and 
influence in college, — 

^ Eliot's Biog. Die. p. 378, 379. 



26 M E M I R F 

" His conduct was peculiarly correct and exemplary. He 
was much esteemed by his fellow-students, as well as by the 
officers of the society. Among the ingenuous youth of the 
University, were certain associations for practical improve- 
ment and usefulness. They consisted generally of good 
scholEirs, who combined good principles and pure morals, 
with an ambition to shine as sons of knowledge. At the 
head of these, and among the most active, was Phillips, 
whose name and character were often mentioned to stimu- 
late others to adorn their own lives." 

His intimate friend and class mate, Dr. Tappan, in 
his discourse at the funeral, says : — 

" While a member of the University, he was a model and 
patron, not only of literary industry, dignified manners, and 
the purest morals, but of devout, ardent, yet rational piety. 
He there displayed that capacity and zeal for useful projects, 
which remarkably distinguished his future life. He was 
either a founder or leading member of three select associa- 
tions, devoted to scientific or patriotic pursuits. He also 
earnestly promoted, and ably assisted in a society formed for 
religious and moral improvement. In the meetings of the 
society, he gave striking proofs of his proficiency in divine 
wisdom, especially in the gift and spirit of prayer." ^ 

The end of such a diligent, exemplary, and useful 
collegiate course, could not well be unnoticed or un- 
honored. It was, as indeed the entire period of his 
University life had been, an era of alarm and agita- 



1 Page 10. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 27 

tion. The established round of college exercises had 
been often disturbed, and so far as can be learned, if, 
on taking his degree and in the previous years, he 
was specially honored in the exhibitions, there is no 
record of the appointments ; yet, as in the case of his 
college journal, the fragment — evidently nearly the 
whole — of a salutatory oration in Latin is preserved, 
which he appears to have delivered on his Commence- 
ment day. The oration is carefully composed, and in 
its graceful references to President Holyoke, then de- 
ceased, but filially commemorated, to Professors Win- 
throp, Wigglesworth, and Sewall, and to his tutors and 
class mates, spoken after his manner, with a calm ear- 
nestness and sincerity, together with the hearty enco- 
mium which, both in his exordium and his peroration, 
he bestows upon the College itself, must have been 
warmly applauded. 

In anticipation of his most honorable appearance 
in this part, as well as on other grounds connected 
with the custom of the day and with his social 
position, we find him, in the following letter, con- 
ferring with his father in reference to providing an 
entertainment for his friends upon the occasion. The 
highly deferential tone of the letter, on his part, 
is not less honorable to him, than the evidence it 
furnishes of his rank as a scholar, and of his father's 
unwillingness ^ ) determine the question, without first 
obtaining his wn considerate views. 



28 M E M I R F 

" Cambridge, May 27, 1771. 

"Honored Sir, — That period is just at hand which I 
have been looking for with trembling this long time, but its 
nearer approach raises a greater solicitude concerning the 
event. You, sir, at our last interview, seemed undetermined 
in what manner to conduct my Commencement, and repeat- 
edly inquired my opinion. I found the same difficulty of 
proposing any thing that I feared would not be perfectly 
agreeable to my father, that I always did ; indeed, in this 
case I could not offer so much violence to myself as to do it. 
But concluding it would give him pain not to know his son's 
inclination, I can't excuse myself, if I do n't acquaint him of 
it with some of my reasons, that he may have an opportu- 
nity, should he disapprove of my sentiments, to show the 
impropriety of them by the suggestion of those more weighty 
arguments, which his superior wisdom shall dictate. You 
asked me, sir, whether we could be accommodated in town ? 
I would answer, there is no doubt of it; and further, it is 
generally (I do n't know but universally) imagined that there 
would be no difficulty from the government of the College'; 
for instances of the kind were taken no notice of last year. 
And now, sir, if I could be persuaded this would be agree- 
able to my father, I would make no hesitation to inform him 
it would be agreeable to his son's wish. 

" And, in the first place, I can't discern but there is a pro- 
priety in the nature of the thing, for in any joyful event 
there seems to be great fitness in calling in our Mends to 
rejoice with us, as well as to desire their attendance when 
under the cloud, to impart the tear of sympathy ; of this 
opinion have been the most venerable of our fathers, as they 
have evidenced in similar circumstances, and, indeed, in the 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 29 

very same ; and among the many respectable characters that 
I might mention under this class, whom could I better place 
at the head, than the former worthy Judge Foxcroft, my uncle 
Phillips, Mr. Bromfield, and the like ? 

" That this is a time to rejoice I think I may venture to 
say ; for {thro' the goodness of God) I do n't know how I 
could have made a more honorable egress, than I have a 
prospect of making, if we take into consideration the whole 
term of my residence. Many instances present themselves in 
Holy Writ, of eminent servants, who assembled their friends 
to partake with them in the happiness of any prosperity. 
Some of the other sex seem to be so connected, that it is 
hardly possible to avoid inviting them, but it is clear that 
they cannot be made comfortable in College ; then if a place 
is provided in town on their accounts, others seem to expect 
it upon good grounds, and, indeed, will upon their own ac- 
counts ; those, especially, who have so often and so hand- 
somely repeated their invitations on the same occasion. (The 
bearer waits.) 

Whether your circumstances don't raise such an expec- 
tation in the minds of all your connections ? — especially, 
as this is the only opportunity you can have to show re- 
gard to friends on the same occasion: — I don't mention the 
advantage to myself, just at entering the world. The cost, 
I know, will be great ; but why is wealth given, but to be 
used in a lawful and proper way ? After all, sir, with all the 
duty and veneration that a son can show, this subject is 
rested with that wisdom w^hich is ever a rule to him who in- 
fallibly wishes to act agreeably to his kind father. 
" Duty and love, sir, if you please. 

« S. P." 
3* 



30 MEMOIR OF JUDGE PHILLIPS. 

We know not what response was made to this rep- 
resentation ; but a discerning father could not fail to 
be pleased with such a letter from his only son, so 
filial in every line, expressed with so much carefulness 
and tact, and so winning in its modest tone, at an hour 
when the ardor of youth might without censure have 
written in a more eager, if not imperative, strain. 

With such propitious auguries, he went forth from 
his literary home at the age of nineteen years, bearing 
with him not only the mental discipline of which he 
soon began to make such use in public, but imj)ressions 
and impulses derived from the peculiar circumstances 
of his college life, as well as deep-seated traits of char- 
acter, which at once gave direction to all his plans. 



CHAPTER V. 



mS MARRIAGE. 



Before his sun had set in Cambridge one star shone 
out in the clear sky, which was to his eye evermore 
the brightest and best. It was here that, for term 
after term, he had met Miss Phoebe Foxcroft, the 
youngest daughter of Hon. Francis Foxcroft. Their 
Sabbath worship was at the same church, under the 
ministry of the venerable Dr. Appleton ; they were 
soon personal friends, intimate friends ; but who would 
have anticipated that they could have any interest in 
each other beyond this ? She was nearly nine years 
his senior,^ highly cultivated in mind and manners, 
the very centre of an attractive and courted circle, 
sprightly, ardent, sanguine : he was sedate, considerate, 
intent on preparation for full manhood, rather than 
conscious of his manhness, and must have deemed 
himself extremely youthful before her, notwithstand- 
ing her constitutional vivacity. Yet, in spite of this 
great disparity, their acquaintance ripened into a de- 
voted and lasting mutual affection. 

^ She was born August 12, 1743. 

(31) 



y 



32 MEMOIR OF 

It does honor to her Scagacity, that she should hav'e 
so soon seen in that frail youth, the type of rare man- 
liness which she could respect and honor in him as 
her husband ; and our confidence in his discernment, 
which falters at first when we see him thus early even 
so much as entertaining the question of such an alli- 
ance, is not abated but enhanced, as we find him 
calmly setting every adverse consideration aside, and 
reaching the conclusion that she was preeminently 
fitted to be his wife. For in truth the disparity was 
rather apparent than real. When he was but eighteen 
and she nearly twenty-seven, she was, in every thing 
but years, the younger of the two ; and so she al- 
ways appeared after their union ; while, with much 
diversity in their distinguishing characteristics, they 
were eminently congenial spirits. 

The knowledge of this attachment fell heavily upon 
the heart of his parents. They saw and felt keenly 
the objections, on the score of age, — and these were 
the only objections, — to such a connection, while he 
who had weighed them all and set them aside, was 
now hoping for an early marriage. A steady refusal 
to consent to the union, and even a demand that the 
connection should cease to be thought of, was all that 
he could obtain from his father; and he was too duti- 
ful not to yield, however great the sacrifice. 

It was with this bitter weight on his spirit, in other 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 33 

respects so glad, that he left the college. For a tune, 
he struggled against the deep current of his feelings 
and judgment, if so be he could possibly ere long for- 
get her, and she him ; but in health his spirits were 
depressed, and in sickness his wounded heart was his 
worst malady. It was in an hour of deep solicitude for 
him, when there were but faint hopes of his life, that 
his parents, who had not been sensible, till his physi- 
cian then told them, how deeply he had suffered on 
account of their opposition, consented to yield ; and 
after two years delay, the marriage was consum- 
mated, in 1773. The correspondence by which they 
gladdened or solaced each other during these years 
of trial, prior to their union, is still, to a large extent, 
preserved in the family, full, it is said, of the incident 
and the romance of their unique position, but so re- 
ligiously kept, as it should be from all eyes, that we 
have not even asked to see it. 

Without any more interior view of the case than 
is here given, it is easy to see that he was, in all this 
experience, drifting upon a strong current away from 
the life of study, which, as an educated, scholarly 
young man, we should say, now opened before him. 
He seems to us, as his words ring out upon the stage 
on that Commencement day, the very model of a can- 
didate for the bench, if not the bar, or for the pulpit. 
He will surely, we think, be eminent, too, in his pro- 
fession; and so he might have been, nay, probably 



34 MEMOIR OF JUDGE PHILLIPS. 

would have been, notwithstanding any thing we have 
yet seen, had not other influences also here been press- 
ing as strongly upon him, to throw him upon a widely 
different career. 



CHAPTER YI. 

HIS PART IN THE REVOLUTION. 

During the whole period of his college life, Cam- 
bridge was the very focus of all patriotic sentiment 
and agitation in the country ; as it had been indeed 
prior to this, and continued to be afterwards. Mr. 

Everett says : — 

" If, in any other quarter of the globe it has been objected 
to seats of learning, that they nourish a spirit of dependence 
on power, such has never been the reproach of our Alma 
Mater. Owing much, at every period before the Revolution, 
to the munificence of individuals in the mother country, it 
never was indebted to the Crown for a dollar or a book. No 
court favor was ever bestowed, and no court lesson ever 
learned. Generation after generation went forth from her 
lecture-rooms, .armed in all the panoply of truth, to wage the 
battles of principle, alike under the old charter and the new ; 
and, when the fulness of time was come, and the great con- 
test approached, the first note of preparation was sounded 
from Harvard Hall. 

" Yes, before the Stamp- Act was passed ; yes, before Com- 
mittees of Correspondence were established throughout the 
colonies; before Otis had shaken the courts with his forensic 

(35) 



3G MEMOIR OF 

thunders; before a breath of defiance had whispered along 
the arches of Faneuil Hall, a graduate of Harvard College 
announced in his Thesis, on Commencement day, the whole 
doctrine of the Revolution. Yes, in the very dawn of inde- 
pendence, while the lions of the land yet lay slumbering in 
the long shadows of the throne, an eaglet, bred in the deli- 
cate air of freedom which fanned the academic groves, had 
from his ' coignc of vantage ' on yonder tower, drunk the fijrst 
rosy sparkle of the sun of liberty into his calm, undazzled 
eve, and whetted his talons for the conflict. 

" Within the short space of twenty-three years, there were 
graduated at Harvard College six men, who exercised an 
influence over the country's destinies, which no time shall 
outlive. Within that brief period, there went forth from 
yonder walls, James Otis, John Hancock, Joseph Warren, 
Josiah Quincy, besides Samuel and John Adams, ^g-eniinos 
duo fulmina belli.'' Yes, fellow-students, if our college had 
done nothing else than educate Samuel Adams, who in 
1743, on taking his second degree maintained the thesis, that 
it is lawful to resist the chief magistrate, if the State cannot 
otherwise be preserved; — or James Otis, who by his argu- 
ment on Writs of Assistance, in the words of one ^ well au- 
thorized to express an opinion, ' first breathed the breath of 
life into the cause of American freedom ; ' — or John Han- 
cock, the patriot merchant, who offered his fortune a sacri- 
fice to the country, and placed his name first to the Declara- 
tion of her Independence; — or John Adams, 'the colossus 
who sustained the Declaration in debate ; ' — or Josiah Quin- 
cy, (yom- honored father, Mr. President,) who in 1774, wrote 

^ The elder President Adams. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 37 

to his countrymen from London, ' that they must seal their 
testimony with their blood;' — or Warren, who, on yonder 
sacred heights, made haste to obey that awful injunction ; — 
had Harvard College done no more than train up any one 
of these great men to the country's service, what title could 
it need to the world's gratitude and admiration ? " ^ 

When the troops were paraded on the Common at 
Cambridge, on the evening of the 16th of June, 1775, 
prior to their marching to occupy Bunker Hill, Presi- 
ident Langdon offered " a fervent and impressive 
prayer," invoking the Divine favor upon the momen- 
tous expedition. At the inauguration of President 
Willard in 1781, when the issue of the great contest 
was no longer doubtful. Governor Hancock in his 
speech, called the College "in some sense the parent 
and nurse of the late happy Eevolution in this Com- 
monwealth ; " ^ and while the struggle was in progress, 
the entire college community, officers and students, 
became, in a remarkable degree, identified with it. 
We find this entry in the journal of Mr. Phillips, 
among other indications of the prevailing college 
spirit. 

" October 2, 1768. — Last Tuesday night the Senior and 
Junior classes met, and voted to use no tea of foreign produc- 
tion, till they should see fit to recall the vote. On Wednes- 

^ Address to the Alumni, at the Centennial Celebration, 1836. 
2 Quincy's History of Harvard University, Vol. II. p. 244. 

4 



38 M E M 1 11 OF 

day night the Sophomores and Freshmeii voted the same, 
thouo^h there were some in each class that dissented and 
were very resolute." 

When the legislature, in 1769, could not longer, 
with due regard to its own dignity and freedom, sit in 
Boston, because of the presence of the king's troops, 
it was promptly adjourned to Cambridge, and held its 
sessions in the College Chapel. 

In the journal of Mr. Phillips, who was then in the 
second year of his college course, repeated references 
are made to these sittings of the General Court. 

" June 17, 1769. — Thursday, the General Court was ad- 
joiu-ned to meet on Friday at Cambridge." — " July 1. — My 
father got to court some time before it sat, which was to 
have been at 9 or 10 o'clock. The Court received a message 
from His Excellency, specifying the business which he ad- 
vised the House to proceed upon, that so their inactivity 
might not by any means be charged upon him ; at the head 
of the particulars, the necessity that care should be taken for 
the administration of government; after long debates upon 
it, they voted unanimously (the speaker not excepted) not to 
grant his salary." — " July 8. — This week the Court have 
continued sitting ; voted not to grant the governor his salary 
for the present, not to chuse an agent in America or Great 
Britain, — passed a number of spirited Resolves, etc." 

It was at just this period, when the patriot legisla- 
ture was here making its stand for freedom, that Pres- 
ident Holyoke died, (of whose funeral Mr. Phillips 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 39 

gives a minute account,) and President Locke was 
chosen in his place, partly, if not mainly, because he 
was " a friend to liberty ; " as we are assured that " at 
this period no individual, not known to be favorable 
to the popular cause, could have been elected Presi- 
dent, whatever might have been his literary qualifica- 
tions." ^ In fact the Provincial Congress had, in Sep- 
tember, 1775, ordered a committee to bring in a resolve, 
recommending to the Corporation and Overseers of 
the College, " not to appoint any person as Governor 
or Instructor, but such whose political principles they 
can depend upon, and to inquire into the principles 
of such as are now in office, and dismiss those who 
are not friendly to the country ; " and the Resolve 
passed.^ 

The year previous to this election, according to Mr. 
Quincy, (1768,) "when the patronage of American 
manufactures was the test of patriotism, the students 
of the senior class unanimously voted 'to take their 
degrees in the manufactures of the country.' This 
resolution was publicly applauded in the journals of 
the day, as reflecting the highest honor on the College ; 
and at the ensuing Commencement, in July, the class 
came dressed accordingly, in American manufactures, 
and were permitted by the governors of the College 



* Quincy's History Harvard University, Vol. II. p. 150, 151. 
^ See Journal of the Congress, p. 134. 



40 MEMOIR OF 

to appear in them on the stage, when they took their 
degrees." A letter from Rev. Andrew Eliot to Thomas 
Hollis, gives the following accomit of the effects of the 
political excitements of the times on the students. 

" The removal of the General Court to Cambridge hinders 
the scholars in their studies. The young gentlemen are al- 
ready taken up with politics. They have caught the spirit 
of the times. Their declamations and forensic disputes 
breathe the spu'it of liberty. This has always been encour- 
aged, but they have sometimes been wrought up to such a 
pitch of enthusiasm, that it has been difficult for their tutors 
to keep them within due bounds; but their tutors are fearful 
of giving too great a check to a disposition which may, here- 
after, fill the country with patriots, and choose to leave it to 
age and experience to check their ardor." ^ 

In 1770, also, as well as in 1769, the legislature sat 
in Cambridge, thus continuing to fan the patriotic 
flame with which it had fired the students ; and 
through all this period, the insolence of British tyr- 
anny in Boston, which had driven the General Court 
to this dignified retreat, was kindling the spirit of in- 
dignation, as well as the spirit of liberty ; every pul- 
sation of which throbbed quick through the college 
artery, as it beat strong in the city heart. 

In June, 1768, Governor Bernard had summarily 
dissolved the General Court because of its patriotic 

^ Quincj's History Harvard University, p. 163. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 41 

firmness in resisting the encroachments of the Crown; 
the selectmen of Boston instantly concerted measures 
to secure a convention of delegates from the several 
towns in the Commonwealth, "to deliberate on consti- 
tutional measures to obtain redress of their griev- 
ances ; " in September this assembly, composed of 
"committees" from ninety-six towns and eight dis- 
tricts, met, and after disclaiming all legislative author- 
ity, " petitioned the governor ; made loyal professions ; 
expressed their aversion to standing armies, to tumults 
and disorders, their readiness to assist in suppressing 
riots and preserving the peace ; recommended patience 
and good order ; and, after a short session, dissolved." ^ 
The father of Mr. Phillips was an active member of 
this convention, stimulating his son's zeal in the cause 
of liberty, not less than his own, by his participation 
in such counsels. It was on spirits already so excited 
and sensitive, that the news of an approaching British 
armament fell like an electric shock. The very next 
day after the convention rose, " two British regiments 
escorted by seven armed vessels, arrived at Boston 
from Halifax." ^ Dr. Holmes says : — 

" The fleet having taken a station which commanded the 
town, the troops, under cover of the cannon of the ships, 

^ Holmes's Annals, Vol. II. p. 285. 

^ "Works of John Adams, by his grandson, Charles Francis Adams, 

Vol. n. p. 213. 

4* 



42 M E M I R F 

landed without molestation, and to the number of upward 
of seven hundred men, marched with muskets charged, bay- 
onets fixed, martial music, and the usual military parade, into 
the Common. In the evening, the selectmen of Boston 
were required to quarter the two regiments in the town ; but 
they absolutely refused. A temporary shelter, however, in 
Faneuil Hail, was permitted to one regiment, that was with- 
out its camp equipage. The next day, the State house, by 
order of the governor, was opened for the reception of the 
soldiers ; and, after the quarters were settled, two field-pieces 
with the main guard were stationed just in front. Every 
thing was calculated to excite the indignation of the inhab- 
itants. The lower floor of the State house, which had been 
used by gentlemen and merchants as an exchange, the rep- 
resentatives' chamber, the court house, Faneuil Hall, — 
places with which were intimately associated ideas of jus- 
tice and freedom, as well as of convenience and utility, — 
were now filled with regular soldiers. Guards were placed 
at the doors of the State house, through which the council 
must pass in going to their own chamber. The Common 
was covered with tents. Soldiers were constantly marching 
and countermarching to relieve the guards. The sentinels 
challenged the inhabitants as they passed. The Lord's day 
was profaned, and the devotion of the sanctuary disturbed, 
by the sound of drums and other military music." ^ 

Mr. Phillips's account of this exciting event, as en- 
tered in his journal, is : — 

^ Holmes's Annals, Vol. II. 285-86. Alsoj Memoir of Josiah 
Quincy, Jr., by his son, p. 17, 18. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 43 

" October 1, 1768. — This week two regiments came to 
Boston. The governor called the council together, that there 
might be provision made for the regiments in Boston ; but 
the council told him it was in the face of an Act of Parlia- 
ment, to make any provision for his majesty's ti-oops before 
the barracks at the castle were full, and that they imagined the 
barracks sufficient to contain all that were coming ; — which 
occasioned warm words, but the council would not yield. 
This day about one thousand men came ashore prepared 
in the best manner for a fight, after the men-of-war had 
surrounded the town, their great guns charged with chain- 
shot." 

It will be seen, by comparing dates, that on the 
Tuesday and Wednesday following, the students passed 
their spirited votes already cited, not to use any more 
tea. Later in the month, Mr. Phillips says, " I saw the 
regiments and heard of their hardships ; " so impossible 
was it for the royal governor to enforce his demands 
for their accommodation. 

In November a portion of two other regiments ar- 
rived. The Legislature, as we have already seen, in- 
dignantly refusing to sit during the two succeeding 
years in the State house thus invaded, and in the 
vicinity of troops marshalled to overawe the people, 
had been convened at Cambridge ; and with continual 
collision and exasperation, growing out of this high- 
handed step of quartering the soldiers in the city, 
the catastrophe of the massacre on the evening of 



44 MEMOIR OF 

March 5, 1770, at last threw the town instantly into 
the greatest commotion ; the drums beat to arms, 
the alarm-bells rang, thousands of the inhabitants 
thronged the streets. Early the next morning the 
citizens, by a unanimous vote, formally notified the 
Lieutenant-Governor and Council, who were deliberat- 
ing upon the event, " that nothing can rationally be 
expected to restore the peace of the town, and prevent 
blood and carnage, but the immediate removal of the 
troops," which was at once stipulated. The funeral 
of the four men who had fallen in this tragedy, and 
were buried together, was a memorable spectacle in 
honor of them personally as martyrs, but still more of 
the cause in which they had died. The immense pro- 
cession was formed in ranks six abreast, closed by a 
long train of carriages belonging to the principal per- 
sons in the town. 

Yet, exasperated as the people were to the last de- 
gree, John Adams and Josiah Quincy — the very oracles 
of popular liberty — consented to act as counsel for 
Captain Preston and the soldiers when arraigned, lest 
it should be thought that in such a tumult they could 
not have a fair trial ; and the jury, with equal courage 
and justice, calmly rendered their verdict according 
to the law.^ 

^ Works of Jolin Adams, by his grandson, Charles Francis Ad- 
ams, Vol. II. p. 230, 231 ; also Memoir of Josiah Quincy, Jr., p. 31-64. 



« 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 45 

Who can wonder that " the removal of the General 
Court to Cambridge," in times like these, " disturbed 
the scholars in their studies ; " or that " their decla- 
mations and forensic disputes breathed the spirit of 
liberty ! " Their fathers and brothers were inaugurat- 
ing a Revolution, whose master-spirits had gone forth 
from those very halls. The crisis touched them per- 
sonalli/, and not merely nationally. This was especially 
true of Mr. Phillips, so many of whose relatives were 
in Boston, sharing in these agitations and suffering 
from them. Josiah Quincy — " the Boston Cicero " — 
whose flashing eye and clarion voice everywhere meet 
us in this opening of the great drama, was his cousin 
by. marriage; his uncle, Hon. William Phillips, and his 
cousin, the late Lieutenant-Governor William Phillips, 
whom he often visited, were conspicuous in the strug- 
gle then, and still more so afterwards ; while his stead- 
fast father, as a member of the General Court, and of 
the convention of " committees," was often forsaking his 
rural home to come down and share in the conflict. 
In a college theme on Liberty at this crisis, Mr. Phillips 
writes in the following strain : — 

" Let this truth be indelibly engraved on our breasts, that 
we cannot be happy without we are free, and may it have a 
desirable effect. The cause requires our utmost vigilance ; 
we should watch against every encroachment, and with all 
the fortitude of calm, intrepid resolution oppose them, lest 



46 ■ MEMOIR OF 

the burden should become too great, or from length of time 
acquire such a force that the difficulty will become insur- 
mountable. It is a matter of very great importance. The 
consequences will not only be great, but very lasting. Un- 
born generations will either bless us for our activity and mag- 
nanimity, or curse us for our sloth and pusillanimity. But 
let an Englishman forever keep silence (a reflection which 1 
can 't forbear) when he can't pass the streets without seeing 
instances of the cruel usurpation of those rights and privi- 
leges, for the defence of which whole kingdoms are ready to 
sacrifice their lives and fortunes. Happy, thrice happy, would 
it be for us, if all, in their several spheres, would lend a help- 
ing hand for this grand enterprise, so that every man may sit 
down under his own vine and fig-tree." 

It was not merely the natural influence of these 
Boston experiences on Cambridge, nor the influence 
of that spontaneous and universal enthusiasm in the 
cause of liberty which thrilled the College, that was 
impressing itself deeply on the young student. He 
had come to the University, the representative of a 
patriotic family, now more than ever aglow with a 
self-sustained enthusiasm in the popular cause ; he 
could not remember a year in which wars and rumors 
of wars were any but the most familiar sounds in his 
ear. If the patriotic excitement of his childhood in 
the Old French War could have subsided in any degree, 
as he gave himself to study, the passing of the Stamp' 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 47 

Act with kindred measures by Parliament, had served 
to keep it alive. War itself could not have agitated 
him, or the country, more. 

The Act was passed in January, 1765, when he was 
about to enter the Academy at Byfield, to take effect 
on the first of November following. These months 
were a most eventful interim. The legislatures of sev- 
eral of the colonieSj at their sessions, passed spirited 
resolves denying the right of Parliament thus to tax 
his majesty's loyal subjects ; the General Court of 
Massachusetts, besides passing such resolutions of the 
strongest character, proposed a congress of deputies 
from all the colonies, which was held in October, at 
New York, composed of delegates from Massachusetts, 
Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and South Carolina, 
(the assemblies of Virginia, North Carolina, and Geor- 
gia being prevented by their governors from sending 
deputations,) and at which the most determined stand 
was made in defence of their rights. 

Nor did the spirit of freedom take on these orderly 
forms alone. Riots and excesses broke out in spite of 
every restraint. At Boston, especially, there were re- 
peated and alarming tumults, in one of which, the 
house of Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson was sacked, 
— "the plate, family pictures, most of the furniture, 
the wearing apparel, about nine hundred pounds ster- 
ling in money, and the manuscripts and books which 



48 MEMOIR OF 

he had been thirty years collecting, besides many 
public papers in his custody, being either carried off or 
destroyed." ^ 

With such exciting antecedents in every direction, 
the first of November drew near. The demonstrations 
of sorrow and scorn with wliich the day was greeted 
when it dawned, were of the most era2)hatic charac- 
ter. 

At Philadelphia, when the vessels which brought the 
stamps came in. all the colors of the shij^jDing in port 
were hung at half mast, and the bells of the city were 
muffled and tolled till sunset. In New York, there 
were no bounds to the violence of the mob, counte- 
nanced by thousands of the less reckless citizens ; the 
Lieutenant-Governor, who had received the stamps and 
made extraordinary exertions to have them secure, 
was first hung and then burnt in ef^gy, his own coach 
having been dragged from his stable to bear the effigy 
in the mock procession, and at the close cast into the 
bonfire and consumed. Early in the morning, at Bos- 
ton, there was a general tolling of the bells, and 
through the day many of the stores were shut, while 
effigies of such as favored the Act were paraded about 
the streets, and at last torn in pieces by the frantic 
populace. 

^ Holmes's Annuls, Vol. II. p. 272. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 49 

In Portsmouth and several adjacent towns an unique 
pageant was concerted. 

" All the bells," in the words of our annalist, " were tolled 
to denote the decease of Liberty ; and, in the course of the 
day, notice was given to her friends to attend her funeral. 
A coffin, neatly ornamented, and inscribed with ' Liberty, 
aged CXLV years ' was prepared for the funeral procession, 
which began from the State house, attended with two un- 
braced drums. Minute-guns were fired until the corpse ar- 
rived at the grave, when an oration was pronounced in honor 
of the deceased. Scarcely was the oration concluded, when, 
some remains of life having been discovered, the corpse was 
taken up. The inscription on the lid of the coffin was imme- 
diately altered to ' Liberty Revived ; ' the bells suddenly 
struck a cheerful sound, and joy appeared again in every 
countenance." ^ 

Throughout the length and breadth of the country 
the stamp distributers were execrated, threatened, com- 
pelled to resign, and in every way made to feel the 
determination of the people not to tolerate the obnox- 
ious Act. And when, after struggling in vain for a 
year to enforce the Act, Parliament repealed it, in 
March, 1766, the joy of the colonies was expressed 
as tumultuously as their indignation had been, by the 
ringing of bells, and by illuminations, festivals, and 
processions suited to the occasion. The anniversary 

* Holmes's Annals, Vol. II. p. 273. 

5 



50 MEMOIR OF 

of this repeal was observed, it will be remembered, by 
the students at Cambridge, in 1769, three years after- 
wards, recalling to every mind, not only the Act itself, but 
the spirit with which it had been successfully resisted. 

The revolutionary impulses received while in Col- 
lege merely, surrounded by ardent spirits like himself, 
might have died out of Mr. Phillips's heart when he 
went forth into the world, had they not been grafted 
upon these anterior and life-long excitements, in the 
same direction ; — had not the calm, intelligent patriotr 
ism of principle been a part of his mental growth, as 
really as his ideas of virtue, or his estimate of time. 

But when we trace this long and varied process, 
which had so well served to exercise his mind upon 
the great questions at issue, and when we consider that 
every month after he graduated w^as filling the coun- 
try with increasing alarm, it no longer seems surpris- 
ing that all plans for a professional career, if any had 
been matured, were at once abandoned. Indeed, it is 
very remarkable that he should, through all these dis- 
turbances, have been such a model as he was of suc- 
cessful application to study ; clearly showing that no 
reasons but such as he deemed the most imperative, 
would have led him to relinquish so congenial a life. 
Yet in the question between study and action, equally 
fitted as he was for either, the scholar yielded to the 
patriot ; and he threw himself with the utmost ardor 
into the Revolutionary struggle. " I never saw hun," 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 51 

says one who knew him well, "I never saw him so 
much interested in any thing else, as he was in the 
Revolution, unless it was the Academy." 

He had been out of College less than two years, 
when in the spring of 1773 — three months before his 
marriage — his fellow-citizens elected him town clerk 
and treasurer, in place of his father, who had filled 
these offices in the town continuously for fourteen 
years previous. At this period, as the records amply 
witness, every thing else in the frequent town meetings 
of Andover was secondary to its spirited action upon 
the state of the country. As early as October 21, 1765, 
the year of the Stamp-Act, the town had by a unan- 
imous vote addressed the following "instructions" to 
their Representative, the elder Mr. Phillips : — 

[To Samuel Phillips, Esq., Representative for the town of Andover in his 
Majesty's province of the IVIassachusetts Bay.] 

" SiK, — We, the freeholders and other inhabitants of said 
town, legally assembled in town meeting on said day, to 
consider what may be proper on our part to be done at this 
critical conjuncture, being a time, we apprehend, that we and 
the rest of his majesty's subjects of this province, as well as 
those of the other provinces and colonies in British America, 
are by sundry acts of Parliament of Great Britain, especially 
by an act commonly called the Stamp- Act, in danger of 
being not only reduced to such indigent circumstances as 
will render us unable to manifest our loyalty to the Crown 
of Great Britain, as upon all occasions we have hitherto 
done, by cheerfully exhibiting our substance for the defence 



52 M E M I R F 

of the Britifih dominions in this part of the world, but of 
being de])rived of some of our most valuable privileges which 
by charter and loyalty we have always thought, and still 
think, ourselves justly entitled to ; 

" Therefore, we take it to be" a duty justly due to ourselves 
and posterity to instruct you, that you do not give your as- 
sent to any act of Assembly that shall signify any willing- 
ness in your constituents to submit to any internal taxes that 
are under any color imposed, otherwise than by the General 
Court of this province, agreeable to the Constitution of this 
government ; that you join in such dutiful remonstrances 
to the King and Parliament, and other becoming measures, 
as shall carry the greatest probability to obtain a repeal of 
the Stamp- Act, and an alleviation of the embarrassments 
the commercial affairs of this province labor under by the 
rigorous execution of the acts of Parliament respecting the 
same ; and we also desire you to use your utmost endeavors 
that all extraordinary grants and expensive measures may 
upon all occasions, as much as possible, be avoided ; and we 
would recommend, particularly, the strictest care and the ut- 
most firmness to prevent all unconstitutional di'aughts upon 
the public treasury ; that you would use your best endeavors, 
in conjunction with the other members of the General Court, 
to suppress all riotous unlawful assemblies, and to prevent 
all unlawful acts of violence upon the persons ai^d substance 
of his majesty's subjects in this province." 

In May, 1768, Mr. Phillips, senior, as chairman of a 
committee appointed by the town, had presented a 
report, which was adopted unanimously, in these 
words : — 



JUDGEPIIILLIPS. 5 



o 



" In order to securing to ourselves and transmitting to pos- 
terity those invaluable rights and privileges both civil and 
religious, which have been dearly purchased by our predeces- 
sors, the first settlers of this country, the loss of which is 
greatly threatened by the great and growing imprudences 
and immoralities among us, the committee are humbly of 
opinion, that it is absolutely necessary that the inhabitants 
of this town use their utmost endeavors, and that they en- 
force their endeavors by their example, for the suppressing of 
extravagance, idleness, and vice, and for the promoting of in- 
dustry, economy, and good morals ; and by all prudent means 
endeavor to discountenance the importation and use of foreign 
superfluities, and to promote and encourage manufactures 
in the town." ^ 

^ It is exceedingly interesting to notice how much prominence is 
given at this crisis, not only in the action of this town, but of various 
other bodies in the country, to this important point in political econ- 
omy ; nor were these views of self-support in so important a respect, 
the fruit of revolutionary tendencies merely. They had prevailed 
to a very considerable extent, twenty years earlier, the development 
of its internal resources being regarded of great moment to the pros- 
perity and thrift of the country then, as it now was to its independ- 
ence. Among the illustrations of this fact, which we have collected, 
we give the following. In 1753, "the anniversary of a society in 
Boston for encouraging industry and employing the poor, was cele- 
brated with extraordinary attention. In the afternoon, about three 
hundred young female spinsters, decently dressed, appeared on the 
Common at their spinning-wheels. The wheels were placed regu- 
larly in three rows, and a female was seated at eacli wheel. The 
weavers also appeai-ed, cleanly dressed, in garments of their own 
weaving. One of them, working at a loom on a stage, was carried 

5* 



54 M E M I R F 

Two years later, May 21, 1770, we find the follow- 
ing record : — 

" The town, taking into consideration the distresses this 
province is laboring under by the operation of a late Act of 
Parliament imposing duties on tea, paper, glass, etc., made 
and passed for the express purpose of raising a revenue in 
the American colonies without their consent, which Act we 
apprehend is oppressive ; repugnant to the natural and con- 
stitutional rights of the people ; contrary both to the spirit 
and letter of the royal charter, granted by their majesties 
King William and Queen Mary to the inhabitants of this 
province, whereby are ordained and established the having 
and enjoying all liberties and immunities of free and natural 
born subjects ; and subversive of the great and good designs 
of our most worthy ancestors, who crossed the ocean, wil- 
lingly exposed themselves to every danger, parted with their 
blood and treasure, suffered hunger, cold, and nakedness, and 
every other hardship human nature is capable of, to purchase 
and defend a quiet habitation for themselves and posterity : 

" Therefore, Voted, neniine contradicente ; 1. That it is the 
duty of every friend to liberty and to the British constitu- 
tion to use all legal measures to prevent, if possible, the ex- 

on men's shoulders, attended with music. An immense number of 
spectators was present at this interesting spectacle." 

" Rev. Dr. Cooper preached a discourse, and a collection was 
made for the benefit of the institution. A manufactory house, a hirge 
and handsome brick building, was erected about this time on Long- 
acre street ; and an excise, laid by the General Court on carriages 
and other articles of luxury, was appropriated to it." — Holmes's 
Annals, Vol. II. p. 196. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 55 

ecution of said act ; and would embrace this opportunity to 
express our warmest gratitude to the merchants and other 
gentlemen of Boston and other trading towns in this prov- 
ince, for the regular, constitutional, and spirited measures 
pursued by them, from principles truly noble and generous, 
for repelling tyranny and oppression, and establishing those 
rights for themselves and country which they are entitled to 
as men and as Englishmen. 

" 2. That we will by all legal and constitutional measures 
in our power, support and encourage the non-importation 
agreement of the merchants ; and that we will have no com- 
mercial or social connections directly or indirectly with those 
persons, who, as enemies to the country, divested of every 
public virtue, and even of humanity itself, regardless of, and 
deaf to, the miseries and calamities which threaten this peo- 
ple, preferring their own private interest to the liberty and 
freedom of the community, are sordidly endeavoring to coun- 
teract such benevolent and salutary agreement. 

"3. That we will encourage frugality, industry, and the 
manufactures of this country ; and that we will not make 
use of any foreign tea, or suffer it to be used in our families 
(cases of sickness only excepted) until the Act imposing a 
duty on that article shall be repealed, and a general importa- 
tion take place." 

Such was the spirit of the town, when Mr. Pliillips, 
Jr., began to take part in its deliberations, and to bear 
its offices ; and here, with his honored father, he at 
once became conspicuous. Early in the year 1774, he 
was appointed, in town meeting, at the head of a com- 



OG MEMOIR OF 



inittee to draft a series of resolutions expressive of the 
temper of the times ; his report embodied, with shght 
modifications, the resolves which had then recently 
been passed at Philadelphia, as a declaration of princi- 
ples, and added the following for practice : — 

" Resolved, That no person in this town, who has hereto- 
fore been concerned in vending tea, or any other person, may 
on any pretence whatever, either sell himself or be in any 
way accessory to selhng any tea of foreign importation, while 
it remains burdened with a duty, under penalty of incurring 
the town's displeasure." 

At a subsequent meeting in June, he was one of a 
committee to report a covenant to be signed by the 
citizens, and on its adoption, was upon the committee 
to see that it was strictly enforced. 

In Deceml^er, his ftither, as chairman of a similar 
committee upon the resolves of the Provincial Con- 
gress, made a report to the town, which there is reason 
to believe the son had assisted in carefully drafting, 
from which we quote the following words : — 

" Resolved, That it is the indispensable duty of this town 
strictly to conform and firmly adhere to the Association of 
the Grand American Continental Congress, and to the re- 
solve of the Provincial Congress of the fifth of December, 
thereto relating ; and, in order that this may be thoroughly 
effected, that the inhabitants of the town, of the age of 
twenty-one years and upwards, subscribe the following agree- 
ment, namely : We, the subscribers, having attentively con- 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 57 

sidered the Association of the Grand American Continental 
Congress, respecting the non-importation, non-exportation, 
and non-consumption of goods, etc., signed by the delegates 
of this and the other colonies on the continent, and the re- 
solve of the Provincial Congress of the fifth of December 
thereto relating, do heartily approve the same, and every part 
of them ; and in order to make said association and resolve 
our own personal act. Do by these presents, under the sacred 
ties of virtue, honor, and love of our country, firmly agree 
and associate fully and completely to observe and keep all 
and every article and clause in said association and resolve 
contained, according to the true intent, meaning, and letter 
thereof, and will duly inform and give notice of every eva- 
sion, or contravention of either, as far as we are able ; and 
we further covenant, that if any person or persons, of the age 
of twenty-one years and upwards, shall neglect or refuse to 
subscribe this agreement when tendered to him or them, we 
will withdraw all commerce, trade, or dealing from such, so 
long as they shall continue thus inimical to the public good, 
and that their names shall be entered on the records of this 
town, and published in the Essex Gazette as enemies to their 
country." 

U^^on the adoption of this report, — which made 
Andover a community of " Covenanters," — Mr. Phil- 
lips, senior, was made chairman of a large Committee 
of Safety, charged with the duty of executing the meas- 
ure proposed ; while the record of all these doings was 
kept by his son, who, in these and many kindred 
movements, was not less active. That oft summoned 



58 MEMOIR OF 

town meeting was a noble spectacle ; a detennined 
assembly of sturdy freemen, who knew their rights 
so well, voting again and again without one dissenting 
voice, while the young scholar, just from his college 
groves, was their clerk, and his tried father then mod- 
erator, — for during this entire period, the elder Mr. 
Pliillips was almost invariably called to the chair, — 
both helping to clothe all their resolute doings in the 
convincing words of truth and soberness. 

It was thus that the town, when the war at last 
broke out, directed a portion of its militia to enlist in 
the anny, at the same time voting their pay and sup- 
plies; established its night-watch as a precaution against 
fires, and the regulars, upon which all the citizens from 
sixteen to sixty years of age were liable to serve at 
forty-eight hours' notice ; organized, in addition to the 
Committee of Safety, its Committees of Correspondence 
and of Inspection ; engaged to supply the families of 
those who were serving in the army with the necessa- 
ries of life ; and took measures to forestall disturb- 
ances of the peace, and to enforce the laws among 
such as seemed inclined to be lawless. Nor did these 
citizens hesitate when the progress of the war had 
brought on the issue of separation from the mother 
country. 

At a meeting June 12, 1776, three weeks before the 
ever memorable 4th of July, the records inform us 
that, — 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 59 

" The question being put, whether should the Honorable 
Congress, for the safety of the colonies, declare them inde- 
pendent of the kingdom of Great Britain, you will solemnly 
engage with your lives and fortunes to support them in the 
measure, — it passed in the affirmative, unanimously T ^ 

^ All of these resolves of the citizens of Andover in the great con- 
test, were amply seconded by both means and men devoted to the 
war. In February, two companies were raised under the command 
of Capt. Benjamin Farnham, and Capt. Benjamin Ames. — " On the 
19th of April, 1775, the alarm drew these companies into the field, 
and they were stationed at Cambridge. They were detached to take 
possession of the heights of Charlestown on the 1 6th of June, and 
were in the battle of the next day. There were fifty-eight belonging 
to Capt. Ames's company, more than fifty of whom, belonging to the 
South Parish, were in the battle of Bunker Hill. Three were killed 
and seven wounded. Two in another company, under command of 
Capt. Furbush, were killed. Capt. Farnham was wounded, and some 
of his company." " The day following the battle, the Lord's day," 
says Rev. Mr. French, " our houses of worship were generally shut 
up. It was the case here. When the news of the battle reached 
us, the anxiety and distress of wives and children, of parents, of 
brothers, sisters, and friendsj were great. It was not known who 
were among the slain or the living, the wounded or the well. It was 
thought justifiable for us, who could, to repair to the camp, to know 
the circumstances, to join in the defence of the country, and prevent 
the enemy from pushing the advantages they had gained ; and to 
afford comfort and reUef to our suffering brethren and friends." In 
the siege of Boston following this, another company of more than 
fifty men, under Capt. Lovejoy, served, being stationed, at different 
times, on Prospect Hill, at Cambridge, and at Roxbury. — See Abbot's 
History of Andover, p. 174, 175, etc. 



60 MEMOIR OF 

It was to represent such a town, in this critical era, 
that our Mr. Phillips, the younger, was elected, with 
great unanimity, to the Provincial Congress, which 
met at Watertown in 1775, at the age of only twenty- 
three years ! Whether this reflects most honor upon 
him or upon his fellow-citizens, we need not inquire. 
They certainly were not men to be blinded by the 
young patriot's ardor in the cause merely. It required 
something besides zeal for liberty to speak and act for 
them in that assembly ; yet without this enthusiasm 
in the contest, neither he nor any other deputy could 
have truly represented them. Young as he was, and 
the more because of his youth, this election intimates 
to us their confidence in his judgment, his probity, arid 
his firmness, not less than in his courage and devotion. 

The Congress to which he was thus sent, convened 
in sight of his venerable ancestor's grave, was near 
the head-quarters of the army at Cambridge,^ acting 

^ The very aspect of Cambridge and its vicinity at this time, must 
have added to the zeal of the patriot scholar : " Thousands," writes 
Rev. Mr. Emerson, a chaplain in the army, " are at work every day, 
from four till eleven o'clock in the morning. It is surprising how 
much work has been done. The lines are extended almost from 
Cambridge to Mystic River, so that very soon it will be morally im- 
possible for tlie enemy to get between the works, except in one place, 
which is supposed to be left purposely unfortified, to entice the ene- 
my out of their fortresses. Who would have thought, twelve months 
past, that all Cambridge and Charlestown would be covered over 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 61 

in daily concert with it, and animated by its spirit. 
There was no longer a " Great and General Court " 
elected in the king's name, and legislating under the 
eye of the king's governor ; but in its place this Revo- 
lutionary Legislature, in which, beyond all other sub- 
jects, the Revolution itself was the great theme. Gen- 
eral Warren said of a similar body in November, 1774. 

" About two hundred and sixty members were present. 
You would have thought yourself in an assembly of Spar- 
tans or ancient Romans, had you been a witness to the ardor 
which inspired those who spoke upon the important business 
they were transacting." ^ 

In this and each succeeding legislature during the 
war to which Mr. Phillips was elected, he took a very 
active part. He soon came to be regarded as one of 
the best speakers in the House, and to the various 
important measures jDrojDOsed in aid of the common 
cause, he brought the most effective support. For 
mere rhetorical declamation, he had no aptness and 
no taste. His was the practical and sohd oratory 

with American camps, and cut up into forts and intrenchments, and 
all the lands, fields, orchards, laid common, — horses and cattle feed- 
ing on the choicest mowing land, whole fields of corn eaten down to 
the ground, and large parks of well-regulated locusts cut down for 
firewood and other public uses ? " — Frothingham's History of the 
Siege of Boston, p. 221. 

^ Frothingham's History of the Siege of Boston, p. 42. 

6 



62 M E M I R F 

of a calm, flir-seeing iiiind, deeply moved, yet never 
swayed by simple emotion. Knapp, in his fiction of 
" Marshal Soult's Journal," says of him in this respect, 
" he was in the first grade of eminence ; his speeches 
were clear, concise, logical, direct, and nervous; but 
he made no effort to amuse the fancy, and never 
sacrificed any thing to mere rhetoric." ^ 

And the qualities which made him so convincing in 
debate, gave a corresponding weight to his suggestions, 
and his action, on the various important committees of 
the House upon which he was placed. In w^hatever 
pertained to the war, or to the important questions of 
state connected with the war, a large amount of this 
committee service was assigned to him year after year ; 
and in it all he distinguished himself, not only by his 
zeal, but by his sagacity and despatch, and by his un- 
tiring industry. It is seldom that such capacity for 
the dry minutiae of business is united with such ability 
in persuasive speaking in our legislative halls. 

We have taken pains to examine the journals of 
these successive legislatures with some care, to obtain 
a view of Mr. Phillips's labors, and have been surprised 
at the number and variety of his committee services. 
The Provmcial Congress at Watertown, assembled in 
the meeting-house July 19, 1775. The proscribed 
patriots, Samuel Adams and John Hancock, were both 

^ Pages 103, 104. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 63 

members, and Avitli them many others who had already 
distinguished themselves in the great contest. This 
memorable Congress held four protracted sessions be- 
fore it was finally dissolved on the lOth of May, 1776. 
During this period, Mr. Phillips was twice on a com- 
mittee to confer with General Washington upon points 
connected with the war ; he was also in rapid succes- 
sion upon committees to countersign the colony notes 
emitted by the Continental Congress, and the notes 
of the Receiver-General ; to direct the mustering and 
paying of one militia company, and to muster and 
pay another; to procure a suitable person to attend 
the Muster-Master-General, and obtain a return of the 
Massachusetts forces ; to superintend the delivery of 
powder to the several towns, and to the Commissary- 
General ; to view the defences of Boston harbor, and 
report their condition, etc. 

In subsequent legislatures, he was appointed on com- 
mittees, upon the petition of certain persons taken 
by one of the cruisers ; to bring in a bill to punish 
deserters ; to see what should be done with men " who 
enlist or are drafted into the army, but have not 
marched ; " to report upon the remonstrances of a 
large number of towns against Bills of Credit, and to 
revise the Address of the House to the inhabitants 
of the State, setting forth the reasons for the Act for 
calling in these bills ; to confer with the Faculty of 
Harvard College respecting grants to the officers ; to 
consider a Resolution of Congress respecting tlie ad- 



64 M E M I R F 

ministration of justice ; to bring in a bill for encourag- 
ing the manufacture of steel ; to draft a letter to Con- 
gress upon the subject of the embargo, etc. In many 
of these aj)pointments, he was made chairman of the 
committee raised ; in numerous instances the persons 
appointed by the House were a joint committee, with 
such as the honorable Council mio-ht desio-nate to 
the same duty. All of these legislatures, like the 
Congress at Watertown, held repeated sessions, usually 
three or four, varying from one to two and some- 
times three months in length, relieved by intervals 
of adjournment. 

But while exerting himself thus in the legislature 
for the liberties of his country, his interest in the 
Revolution stimulated him to serve the cause in 
other modes. There were junctures when he made 
efforts to procure loans from his friends for the 
government, becoming himself, to the extent of his 
ability, not only the negotiator, but the surety, with 
the parties. His daily conversation, too, with all 
classes, and in all circles, was perpetually touching upon 
the great theme, eliciting, by well-timed questions, the 
views of others, and breathing out the convictions of 
his own full heart. He is remembered to this day by 
some, with remarkable distinctness in this respect, as 
conversing everywhere upon the war, full of questions 
and of comments, both in a style peculiar to himself 
And his deeds were in unison with his words. 

In the winter of 1775-76, while serving in the 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. , 65 

Congress at Watertown, and intent still upon practi- 
cally aiding in the struggle, he erected, at great ex- 
pense, a powder-mill, commencing and prosecuting the 
enterprise in a manner most characteristic of himself. 

The exigency which prompted him to this enter- 
prise was great. By a proclamation of the king, the 
year prior to the rupture with the Colonies, the ex- 
portation of all military stores from Great Britain had 
been prohibited ; ^ and early in the contest, the efforts 
of the British troops had been specially directed to 
the seizure or destruction of all kinds of ordnance 
and ammunition. For this purpose, a detachment had 
marched to Salem and Dan vers in February, 1775 ; ^ 
and this was the chief object of the expedition to Con- 
cord, which brought on the battle at Lexington on the 
19th of April. The battle of Bunker Hill might have 
been still more disastrous to the British, had not the 
Americans been compelled to retreat in the very hot- 
test of the conflict for want of cartridges.^ So early 
did the scanty supply of powder especially begin to 
embarrass the patriot forces. 

When General Washington took the command of the 
army on the od of July at Cambridge, his first care, 

^ Holmes's Annals, Vol. II. p. 316. 

^ Ibid. p. 324. See also Frotliingliam's History of the Siege of 
Boston, p. 48. 

« Ibid. p. 147, 148, 153. 



66 MEMOIR OF 

after a rapid survey of his own and the enemy's works, 
was to ascertain the amount of the various mihtary 
stores at his service for the campaign. The returns 
showed that more than three hundred barrels of pow- 
der had been collected by the Province, but did not 
state how much had been expended. Without a sus- 
picion of any important deficiency, therefore, the Com- 
mander-in-Chief at once arranged to complete the in- 
vestment of Boston, and press the siege vigorously, 
hoping before winter to dislodge or capture the British, 
and return to Virginia. 

On the issue of an order, however, in August, for a 
hew supply of cartridges, the startling fact came to 
light, that there were not more than about thirty bar- 
rels of powder in the whole camp, barely enough to 
furnish nine or ten rounds to each man ! Letters were 
instantly despatched by Washington to Rhode Island, 
the Jerseys, Ticonderoga, and elsewhere, urging imme- 
diate supplies of both powder and lead ; he suggested, 
also, the expedient of fitting out an armed vessel to 
sieze if possible upon a magazine in Bermuda ; and 
for a fortnight the army remained in this critical state, 
apprehending an attack every hour, when at length 
a partial supply was received from the Jerseys ; but 
even with this, there was not ammunition enough to 
serve for more than a single day in a general action.^ 

* Irving's Life of Washington, Vol. II. p. 25-27 ; also Frothing- 
ham's History of the Siege of Boston, p. 232, 233, 255. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 67 

Even as late as December, after every effort to increase 
the stores, Washington spoke of the stock as "fearfully 
small ; " -^ and in January, General Putnam, who had 
just constructed a new battery on Leclimere Point, 
was still roughly praying for powder. " The bay is 
open," writes Colonel Moylan, in allusion to the mild- 
ness of the season, " every thing thaws here except 
Old Put. He is still hard as ever, crying out for 
powder — powder — powder, — Ye Gods, give us pow- 
der ! " ^ Yet with this appalling defect, month after 
month, to check him, Washington began to be thought 
too cautious in his movements. " Why does he not 
bombard the town and drive the enemy out ? " it 
was asked. " Why is the army kept fortifying or 
parading and not fighting ? " 

The General-in-Chief was himself mortified and 
chafed beyond measure by this necessity for apparent 
inaction, when some great and decisive blow was ex- 
pected, and when, to explain the real cause, would be 
to insure disaster. January 14th, he wrote : — 

" Few people know the predicament we are in, on a thou- 
sand accounts ; fewer still will believe, if any disaster hap- 
pens to these lines, from what cause it flows. I have often 
thought how much happier I should have been if, instead of 
accepting of a command under such circumstances, I had 

^ Irving's Life of Washington, Vol. II. p. 35. 
2 Ibid. p. 117. 



68 M E M I R F 

taken my musket upon my shoulder, and entered the ranks ; 
or, if I could have justified the measure to posterity and my 
own conscience, had retired to the back country, and lived 
in a wigwam. 

" If I shall be able to rise superior to these, and many 
other difficulties which might be enumerated, I shall most 
religiously believe that the finger of Providence is in it." 

On the 9th of February, he stated : — 

" That two thousand of his men were without firelocks, 
and that he was obliged to conceal the state of his army 
even firom his own officers." 

On the 10th, he wrote : — 

" I know that much is expected of me. I know that with- 
out men, without arms, without ammunition, without any 
thing fit for the accommodation of a soldier, little is to be 
done." 

February 18th, he again wrote : — 

" To have the eyes of a whole continent fixed with anx- 
ious expectation of hearing some great event, and to be re- 
strained in every military operation for want of the neces- 
sary means to carry it on, is not very pleasing ; especially as 
the means used to conceal my weakness from the enemy, 
conceal it also from our friends, and add to their wonder." ^ 

He waited, therefore, in hope ; but it was hope de- 
ferred ; and it was not until March, 1776, eight months 

1 Frothingham's History of the Siege of Boston, p. 286, 290, 292. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. G9 

after his arrival at Cambridge, that he felt justified in 
acting more summarily. On the night of the 2d, 3d, 
and especially the 4th of that month, the town was 
bombarded in good earnest, mainly with a view of 
covering his occupancy of Dorchester Heights that 
evening, where, as on Bunker Hill in the preceding 
June, the labor of a night threw up a redoubt, which 
the next morning filled the enemy with amazement. 
That evening, Mrs. John Adams, writing of the cannon- 
ade to her husband, said, " I hope to give you joy of 
Boston, even if it is in ruins, before I send this away." ^ 
A few days now sufficed to drive the British to their 
shipping. Early in the morning of Sunday the 17th, 
they evacuated the town ; and a siege which might 
have been ended in eleven weeks as well as in eleven 
months, had there been no want of ammunition, ter- 
minated in a complete triumph.^ 

In reverting to their struggles for this great victory, 

^ Frothingham's History of the Siege of Boston, p. 305, 306. 

^ Holmes's Annals, Vol. H. p. 348. While Washington was in the 
midst of his embarrassments here, Dr. Franklin, Mr. Lynch, and 
Colonel Harrison came on as a committee from Congress, " to settle 
the plan for continuing and supporting the army ; " and Dr. Frank- 
lin, who had recently returned from Europe, at this time paid over 
to a committee of the Provincial Congress at Watertown, £100, 
which had been sent to him, as a charitable donation from persons in 
England, for the relief of those who had been wounded in the battle 
of Lexington, and of the widows and orphans of those who had been 
slain. — See Sparks's Washington, Vol. UL p. 133, 134. 



70 M E M I R F 

Washington writes to Congress : " It is not in the pages 
of history, perhaps, to furnish a ease hke ours. To 
maintain a post within musket shot of the enemy for 
six months together unthoiit ammmiUion, and at the same 
time to disband one army and recruit another with- 
in that distance of twenty odd British regiments, is 
more, probably, than was ever attempted." ^ The army 
had not been alone, however, in efforts to meet the 
exigency. The Congress at Watertown exerted itself 
strenuously for the same object. At first all the towns 
in the Province, where powder even in the smallest 
quantity was stored, were called upon to send it to the 
Commissary with the utmost despatch ; and the amount 
which each town should endeavor to send in was speci- 
fied. Andover was to send fifty pounds, which were 
promptly forwarded ; so Haverhill, Danvers, Rowley, 
were to send fifty pounds each, and other towns in 
proportion. 

But this was a temporary expedient; something must 
be done to insure a more permanent sujDply. On the 
12th of December, 1775, a Resolve was therefore passed 
for the erection of two powder-mills, one in Sutton, 
and the other on the site of an old mill in Stoughton. 
On the 23d, however, a committee was appointed to 
visit Stoughton and Andover, and see in which of these 
towns the manufacture could best be commenced ; and, 
on the 3d of January, Mr. Phillips made a proposal 

^ See Appendix F. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 71 

to the House, to erect a mill in Andover with their 
concurrence and cooperation. A Resolve was accord- 
ingly passed, with the sanction of the Council, on the 
9tli, encouraging him to proceed with all convenient 
despatch ; engaging to supply his mill for a year with 
saltpetre and sulphur for the manufacture, and to pay 
him a bounty of eight pence per pound for all the good 
powder he should deliver to the Commissary ; with the 
express stipulation that he was to sell only to the 
Government, or to such other parties as they should ap- 
prove for the public use ; and that he should maintain 
a night guard at his mill, " to prevent any wicked and 
designing person from destroying the same." ^ On the 
13th of February, a bounty of £50 was offered also 
by the Congress to the person who should first erect 
a powder-mill capable of manufacturing fifty pounds 
per day ; and £30 for the second mill of the same 
capacity. The mills at Stoughton and Andover being 
already begun, were not included in this ofier. 

It was with these preliminaries to stimulate him, 
and under the influence of such a general feeling in 
the body to which he belonged, that Mr. Phillips, who 
not only shared in the feeling, but had done much to 
increase it, hastened home in January, 1776, and set 
on foot his enterprise. 

^ See Journal of the Proviucial Congress, 1775. 



72 M E ^I I R F 

Having purchased his mill-seat, where a canal was 
needed for some distance, he called together his neigh- 
bors in considerable numbers, and spread before them 
the project. " Now," said he, " I want your help, and 
will engage to pay you, if the business pays ; but if it 
fails, you must consent to lose your labor ; the powder 
is needed for the common cause, and we must work 
together." At once his appeal was responded to with 
enthusiasm, and in that inclement season, ground was 
immediately broken by the spirited citizens, and the 
mill-race dug as a volunteer work ; Mr. Phillips him- 
self, in his farmer's frock, working from morning till 
night with the company, and superintending their 
labors. It has been said that this was the first pow- 
der-mill erected in the country, which appears to be 
an error, as the mill at Stoughton was to be an old one 
repaired ; but certainly this was a most timely enter- 
prise; for as early as the 10th of May, 1776, Mr. 
Phillips began to deliver from his mill to the several 
towns the quotas of powder which they had furnished 
accordino; to the directions of the Provincial Consrress : 
and in the summer and autumn, large supplies were 
drawn from it for the use of the army, and of the 
vessels eno-ao-ed in cruisino;. 

Mr. Phillips, as we have stated, had entered into an 
arrano;ement with the Government of the Common- 
wealth, to sell powder only as they should consent, 
and for the public service. Accordingly, we find an 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 73 



order of the Council, then sitting in Watertown, Au- 
gust 31, 1776, permitting the sale of one thousand six 
hundred pounds to three several parties at six shillings 
per pound, the Commissary-General of the State being 
responsible for the payment ; September 6th, an order 
for one thousand five hundred pounds more ; Septem- 
ber 24th, for five hundred pounds ; October 4th, for 
four tons ; October 9th, for four thousand pounds,^ etc. 
From the amount and frequency of these drafts, it will 
be seen that the mill was doing a great work. At this 
time, the Hon. William Phillips of Boston was a mem- 
ber of the Council, and his son, the late Lieutenant- 
Governor William Phillips, was part owner of one of 
the schooners which drew its stores of powder from 
this manufactory of their kinsman. While thus sup- 
plying munitions of war, Mr. Phillips, as chairman of 
a committee of the Legislature, was writing to the 
towns in the vicinity, to send in their supplies of wood 
and other necessaries to the army.^ A letter of his to 
the selectmen of Concord is preserved, in which he 
states that they are recommended by the Legislature 
to send three cords of wood daily, and urges the im- 
portance of their doing it promptly. 

Before the close of this year, powder-mills had been 
built, partly with the aid of the State, at Stoughton, 



* American Archives, 5th Scries, Vols. II. and III. 

^ Frothingham's History of the Siege of Boston, p. 275. 

7 



74 M E M I U F 

at Sutton, and at Springfield ; but for a conKsiderable 
period the mill at Andover was the leading manufac- 
tory. Before it had been half a year in operation a 
Resolve was passed in the Legislature, to pay Mr. 
Phillips £2,800 to meet his purchases of saltpetre 
merely.^ The scarcity of this article was liis prin- 
cipal difficulty in the enterprise; and at first, in the 
urgency of the demand, floors wei»e, in many cases, 
taken up from kitchens and sheds in the vicinity, to 
obtain the earth beneath, and extract the saltpetre 
which it contained. The business, thus begun, proved 
sufficiently remunerative, notwithstanding an explosion 
in 1778, which destroyed a portion of the establish- 
ment, with the loss of three lives ; and was continued 
until 1796, when a similar catastrophe brought it to 
a close, as, at that time, Mr. Phillips had a variety of 
other less hazardous business on his hands. 

When the war, which he had been so zealous to 
sustain, was nearly terminated, the claims of the suf- 
fering army upon the country enlisted his warmest 
sympathy. " This is the day," he writes, to Mrs. Phil- 
lips, from Boston, under date of March 4th, 1780, 
" when I usually enjoyed the satisfaction of setting my 
face homeward; but duty forbids my enjoyment of 
that pleasure to-day ; the importunity of hundreds of 

^ American Archives, Vols. II. and III. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 75 

poor soldiers who have been suflfering much and haz- 
arding life for my defence, and who are asking only 
for that which they were assured they should have 
received the first of last January, requires me to put 
on self-denial." 

As the Revolutionary drama unfolded, too, in all its 
magnitude, the great problem of reconstructing the 
fabric of civil government in new forms, and with 
new doctrines underlying the whole, began to occupy 
his mind ; thus launching him upon a career of varied 
civil service, which it is now time for us to trace. 



CHAPTER VII. 

HIS AGENCY IN THE ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION OP 

THE STATE GOVERNiMENT. 

With their early partiality which had chosen him 
to honorable offices in the town, and for several suc- 
cessive years elected him as their Representative to 
the Legislature, his fellow-citizens cast their united 
suffi'ages for him as one of the four delegates from 
Andover to the Constitutional Convention which com- 
menced its sessions in Cambridge, September 1, 1779. 

The independence of the Colonies had been solemn- 
ly declared; the tide of war, though not yet spent, 
was rolling away westward and southward, and all 
looked for its speedy and triumphant termination ; it 
was time to enter upon the work of inaugurating a 
Republican Government, upon the basis of the great 
Republican Revolution. Indeed, one effort had already 
been made, by the citizens of Massachusetts, in this 
direction, but without success; the new constitution 
proposed by the Legislature of 1777-78, acting as a 

(76) 



MEMOIR OF JUDGE PHILLIPS. 77 

convention, not being approved by a majority of the 
people. It might have been inferred from this circum- 
stance, that the patriotism of the times was better fitted 
to break down than to buUd up ; more radical than 
progressive. It was the more important, therefore, 
that the second effort should be the best work of our 
best men. At the opening of the Convention in Cam- 
bridge, in the meeting-house of the first society, three 
hundred delegates presented their credentials, among 
whom stand the names of John Adams, Samuel Adams, 
John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Levi Lincoln, John 
Lowell, Theophilus Parsons, John Pickering, Robert 
Treat Paine, Caleb Strong, and scores of others who 
had distinguished themselves in the struggle for 
liberty. 

In two days after it had assembled, the Convention 
was organized, and passed, as properly preliminary to 
its work, the following Resolutions : — 

" Resolved, unanimously, That the Government, to be 
framed by this Convention, shall be a free republic. 

" Resolved, That it is of the essence of a free Republic, 
that the people be governed by fixed laws of their own 

MAKING." 

Proceeding ujoon this platform, a committee of thirty- 
one members, carefully selected and chosen by ballot, 
was then appointed to prepare " a Frame of a Consti- 
tution and Declaration of Rights," to be reported to 



78 MEMOIR OF 

the Convention ; upon which committee, Mr. Phillips 
was placed as one of three from his county, being as- 
sociated in this important service with both the Ad- 
amses, Mr. Bowdoin, Mr. Parsons, Mr. Paine, and other 
names of the highest distinction. 

After six continuous weeks of arduous labor in 
scanning, and accepting or rejecting, the report of this 
committee, sentence by sentence, the Convention ad- 
journed for a recess until January, during which inter- 
val, John Adams sailed for Europe, leaving to his asso- 
ciates the task of finishing what he and they had so 
well begun. The journal of the Convention in its first 
sitting shows that the discussions were often protracted ; 
questions are spoken of as " largely debated," as hav- 
ing been decided after " an extensive debate," or after 
" a long debate ; " on some topics the first draught of 
the committee was finally recommitted, and an en- 
tirely new one presented, so that much the largest part 
of their important work yet remained to be done when 
they adjourned. 

The attemjDt to reassemble in January failed at first, 
the severity of the ever memorable hard winter of 
1780 rendering it nearly impossible for the country 
members to get to Boston, where they now proposed 
to meet ; and the smallpox having broken out in the 
city, so that there was great unwillingness to convene 
there ; but after a week's delay, the new session began 
in the Representatives' Chamber, with the galleries 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 79 

opened to spectators. In February, after several weeks 
of close application to the details of their work, a mo- 
tion was passed, " that a committee be appointed to 
form a declaration, or test, wherein every person, be- 
fore he takes his seat as a representative, senator, or 
governor, or enters upon the execution of any impor- 
tant office or trust in the Commonwealth, shall re- 
nounce every principle, (whether it be Roman Cath- 
olic, Mahometan, Deistical, or Infidel,) which has any 
the least tendency to subvert the civil or religious 
rights established by this Constitution." Mr. Phillips 
was placed among the first on this committee, in con- 
nection with Mr. Pickering and Samuel Adams.^ 

^ The test, reported by this committee, as finally incorporated 
into the Constitution, is as follows : — '' Every person chosen to 
either of the places or offices aforesaid, as also any person ap- 
pointed or commissioned to any judicial, executive, military, or 
other office under the government, shall, before he enters on the dis- 
charge of the business of his place or office, take and subscribe the 
following declaration, and oaths or affirmations, namely, — 

" I, A. B., do truly and sincerely acknowledge, profess, testify, and 
declare, that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is, and of right 
ought to be, a free, sovereign, and independent State ; and I do swear 
that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the said Commonwealth, 
and that I will defend the same against traitorous conspiracies, and all 
hostile attempts whatsoever ; and that I do renounce and abjure all 
allegiance, subjection, and obedience to the King, Queen, or govern 
ment of Great Britain, (as the case may be,) and every other foreign 
power whatsoever ; and that no foreign prince, person, prelate, state, 
or potentate, hath, or ought to have, any jurisdiction, superiority, pre- 



80 MEMOIR OF 

By the 2d of March, the Convention had so far ma- 
tured the proposed Constitution, as to adjourn again, 
meanwhile submitting their work to the suffrages of 
the people. 

During these two months, the debates are repre- 
sented as "very full," and the care with which every 
paragraph and phrase was adjusted, step by step, is 
exceedingly interesting to notice. At the third and 
very brief session, which was held in the Brattle Street 
Church in June, it appeared from the returns, that the 
Constitution had been adopted by the votes of more 
than two thirds of the people, and the Convention for- 
mally declared it to be " the Constitution of Govern- 
ment established by and for the inhabitants of the 
State, of Massachusetts Bay." ^ 

In all this work, of nearly four months in the aggre- 

eminence, authority, dispensing or other power, in any matter, civil, 
ecclesiastical, or spiritual, within this Commonwealth ; except the 
authority and power which is or may be vested by their constituents 
in the Congress of the United States : And I do further testify and 
declare that no man or body of men hath or can have any right to 
absolve or discharge me from the obligation of this oath, declaration, 
or affirmation ; and that I do make this acknowledgment, profession, 
testimony, declaration, denial, renunciation, and abjuration, heartily 
and truly, according to the common meaning and acceptation of the 
foregoing words, without any equivocation, mental evasion, or secret 
reservation whatsoever. So help me God." 
* See Journal of the Convention, p. 1-225. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 81 

gate, Mr. Phillips, though not entitled by age and ex- 
perience to hold so eminent a place as some of the 
master-spirits of the Convention, is represented as hav- 
ing labored effectively, both in the committee rooms 
and in the House, supporting earnestly and often in 
the public discussions the matured propositions of his 
own and other committees, which were finally adopted. 
It is to be here remembered, that no such Republican 
Constitution had ever before been written ; these men 
were to construct, not copy ; and their position made 
them continually learners, while they were so acting 
as to be also the teachers of the land, in the science of 
government. 

When they had so well done the work committed 
to them, therefore, they had acquired the best possible 
fitness to serve their fellow^citizens in the various civil 
offices which the Constitution established ; and we ac- 
cordingly find the prominent men of this Convention 
called at once, by the people, to the chief posts in the 
government which they had adopted. Mr. Hancock 
was the first Governor, succeeded in a few years by 
Mr. Bowdoin, and then in turn succeeding him. Mr. 
Samuel Adams was the first President of the Senate, and 
afterwards Lieutenant-Governor, and Governor. Messrs. 
Lowell, Lincoln, Pickering, Greenleaf, Holton, and oth- 
ers were called to the bench as judges in the various 
courts ; yet others of the Convention became conspic- 
ous as members of the Governor's Council, or as lead- 
ers in the House of Representatives and the Senate. 



82 M E M I R F 

At the very first popular election under the new 
Constitution in September, 1780, Mr. Phillips was 
chosen a member of the Senate, which became thence- 
forth his home as a legislator. In this canvass, his 
father also was upon the same ticket for councillors 
and senators with himself; but the son received, in 
his native place, treble the number of votes thrown 
for the father. 

Early in the succeeding year, although not profes- 
sionally versed in the law, and not yet thirty years of 
age, he was also appomted by Governor Hancock and 
his Council one of the justices of the Court of Common 
Pleas for the county of Essex, which office was the 
occasion of his being from this time conveniently dis- 
tinguished from others of the family name, as Judge 
Phillips. It will best serve our purpose to speak of 
him briefly first as judge rather than as a senator, 
since his long judicial service, running parallel with 
his career in the Senate, was the more brief of the 
two. 

He entered upon his duties as judge, not without 
careful preparation, we are assured, at a court holden 
in Newburyport, September 25, 1781, being associated 
in the office with his friends, the Hon. Benjamin 
Greenleaf, Samuel Holton, Esq., and John Pickering, 
Esq., all of whom had been with him in the Constitu- 
tional Convention, and subsequently in the General 
Court. 



JUDGEPHILLIPS. 83 

The uniform arrangement, for many years, was for 
this County Court to hold four terms annually; the Sep- 
tember term in Newburyport, the December and July 
terms in Salem, and the April term in Ipswich ; but in 
1790, a change was made to three terms, September, 
April, and July. At the April term in Ipswich, 1782, 
about one hundred and fifty cases were tried ; in July, 
there were one hundred and thirty cases at Salem ; in 
September, one hundred and seventy-five at Newbury- 
port ; and the records for this year alone, cover nearly 
two hundred and forty folio pages. 

It will be seen from this, that the business of the 
court in this large county was exceedingly onerous, 
consuming from three to four months yearly, and in- 
volving every variety of experience in the justices. 
Mr. Pickering served as one of the justices only two 
or three years ; but Judge Greenleaf was in the office 
till 1796, and Judge Holton still longer. Judge Phil- 
lips held his office until 1798, appearing upon the 
bench for the last time in April of that year ; and 
never having been absent, except in two cases, when 
serving the public in other duties, during the whole 
period of more than sixteen years ! When he resigned, 
only Judge Holton was his senior in office. The high 
character of all these justices, and their long contin- 
uance in office, made this a model court for the times. 

Of Judge Phillips, one who knew him well has said, 
" his wisdom, justice, and patriotism, were for a long 



84 M E lAI I R F 

time exercised in one of our judiciary departments ; 
in which his abiUtj and integrity, his patient, candid, 
and dihgent attention, were universally approved." -^ 

From a copy of one his addresses to the grand-jury 
at one of the terms, which is preserved in his hand- 
writing, we quote the following, as an illustration of 
his judicial tone : — 

" You having been chosen grand-jurors for the body of 
this county, and having taken the oath which has been ad- 
ministered, it is incumbent on the Com-t, to specify several 
parts of your duty in this capacity; — and as some of you have 
served the public in this office before, and most, if not all of 
you, must have been acquainted with the nature of it, it is 
hardly necessary to inform you, that it is your duty not only 
to receive complaints which may be made to you, when to- 
gether or apart, of the offences against divers laws of the 
Commonwealth which are cognizable by this court, (some of 
which will be particularly enumerated,) but to make obser- 
vations yourselves of those offences when they shall fall 
within your notice ; and when convened at any term of the 
court, to communicate to each other any such observations 
as you may have made, and the informations you may have 
received, as well as the evidence to support them, — and also 
to judge of all such communications, whether made by any 
of your own number, or by any other person ; in the first 
place to consider whether the complaints before you are cog- 
nizable by this court, and proper to be noticed by them, if 
found to be fact ; in the second place, whether the evidence 

^ Dr. Tappan, Funeral Discourse, p. 9. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 85 

produced to support the complaint be sufficient for that pur- 
pose : — Thus you may be considered as the eye and the ear 
of the public, which the law has provided, to notice those 
offences that come within your knowledge, and which the 
public welfare requires should be corrected and suppressed. 

" The laws which demand your attention, are those which 
require towns to provide and maintain schools w^ithin their 
limits, to keep their highways and bridges in repair, etc. ; all 
these laws are important in their nature, and the execution 
of them necessary to the well-being of the community ; but 
unless those who constitute the inquest of the County, are 
diligent and faithful in the discharge of their office, the labor 
and pains of the Legislature are worse than lost, and the 
people are deprived of that benefit which they have a right 
to expect, and which we, so far as the duties of om* several 
stations extend, are solemnly bound to confer; for it ought to 
be remembered that every law, unexecuted, is a standing 
monument of the imbecility of government, and tends to 
bring its authority into disrepute and contempt. It may not, 
however, be amiss to caution you against the influence of 
prejudice and passion, as well as every undue bias whatever 
in all your inquiries and determinations, — wherever there is 
just reason to suspect that private animosities are promotive 
of public complaints, in such cases, you will exercise double 
vigilance." 

" There is one object to which we would point your partic- 
ular notice, I mean the laws which provide for the maintenance 
of grammar schools in our several towns. These laws are 
upon a subject which our venerable ancestors and fathers 
viewed to be of vast consequence to the welfare of their 

8 



86 MEMOIR OF 

country ; and to their views of it, under the smiles of Heaven, 
is in a great measure owing that degree of success, which 
has attended their posterity. To their salutary regulations 
of this kind may be ascribed, in a great measure, the im- 
provements of various kinds which have been made in our 
country ; and the effect of them has been remarkably con- 
spicuous in the late surprising Revolution, from its com- 
mencement through the various stages of its progress, and 
especially in the very advantageous termination of it. 

" These effects have been no less manifest in the formation 
and adoption of those excellent Constitutions of Government 
under which we live ; but the harvest of benefits which are 
now opening to our view, and for which so high a price has 
been paid, will hardly be realized, or if realized, will be of but 
short continuance, without an unremitted care to instruct the 
youth of the community generally^ in useful knowledge ; to 
inculcate just principles, and form good habits, at that period 
of life which, if not the only one, is incomparably the most fa- 
vorable for those purposes. 

" In some instances, it may be found the law I am 
speaking of has been disregarded in all its parts ; in others, 
where respect has been paid to the number of schools re- 
quired to be kept, and to the periods for supporting them, 
another provision, which prescribes the qualifications of the 
instructors, and the judges of those qualifications, it is to be 
feared, has been greatly neglected ; and this, perhaps, for the 
sake of obtaining cheap instructors ; a parsimony this that is 
pitiable indeed ; for, after all our pains, if we could leave pos- 
terity possessed of the wealth of the Indies, without virtuous 
principles and good habits, the habits of industry and econ- 
omy particularly, the possession would not be very lasting ; 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 87 

and while it might continue, would not produce any consid- 
erable degree of rational enjoyment. Those who will under- 
take to cultivate and regulate the minds of youth, and are 
qualified for the undertaking, do well deserve an honorable 
reward ; and by employing others, upon any terms whatever, 
we deceive ourselves, and do our children an injury which, 
in most instances, will never be repaired. 

" I doubt not, gentlemen, you will discharge the duties of 
this office in such a manner as to afford satisfaction to your 
own minds, in reflection, and promote the peace, good order, 
and respectability of the county in which we have the hap- 
piness to live." 

Admirably as such sentiments, clothed in so lucid 
a style, show him to have been fitted for this station, 
and congenial as it was to his natural tastes and habits 
of mind, his other multiplied public cares, together 
with frequent illness, compelled him at length to re- 
sign the office. We turn, therefore, to view him now 
in other civic toils and trusts. 

After his first election from his district to the Senate 
of the Commonwealth, in 1780, he continued to be 
annually returned to that body during nearly the whole 
period of his remaining life. For the first five years, 
Mr. Samuel Adams was President, as already stated, 
and Judge Phillips was prominent only as his talents, 
weight of character, admirable business habits, and rij)e 
experience in legislation, gave him influence. But 



88 M E M I R F 

when Mr. Adams "was persuaded to resign the chair," 
Judge Phillips succeeded him at once as President of 
the Senate, in which office he became more widely 
known, and is perhaps better remembered, than in any 
other that he ever filled. Once raised to this chair, it 
seemed thenceforth to be his by a sort of inalienable 
right, though he was too humble so to regard it, and 
at times, as we learn from letters to Madam Phillips, 
was disposed to decline it. 

For fifteen years he was the choice of all parties, 
being elected President usually by a unanimous vote. 
Dr. Tappan, in the funeral discourse, already referred 
to, delineates him as a presiding officer, in the following 
words : — "In this high and delicate situation, he equally 
honored himself and benefited the Commonwealth, by 
his punctuality and assiduity, by his correctness and 
despatch, by his mild, impartial, and dignified conduct." 
In other notices of his senatorial life which appeared 
in the papers at the same period, special mention is 
made of " his sing-ular and unremitted attention to 
business, and his facility in transacting it," and of his 
"known independence and integrity of character;" 
and Governor Strong, in a message to the Legislature, 
bears testimony to " his distinguished merit," character- 
izing; him as " one of the best and ablest " men in the 
Commonwealth, who had long presided over the de- 
liberations of the Senate "with candor and dignity." 
Indeed, though there were every year much older 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 89 

men than he on that floor, he was for many years 
officially the senior member, and was regarded as the 
flither of the Senate, having more personal considera- 
tion by far than any other, in addition to the authority 
of his position. 

By this long continued activity in the legislation of 
the Commonwealth, under such advantages of ofiice 
and experience, he contributed largely to the dignity, 
as well as the stal^ility, of the new civil order which 
his hand had helped to originate. 

" The late surprising Revolution," as he terms it, had, 
however, left behind it some deep-rooted discontents, 
as in its origin and progress it had been marred by 
some excesses. There were men, in all these years, 
who sought not so much well-regulated liberty, as un- 
restrained license. The final, and much the most gen- 
eral, as well as dangerous exhibition of this lawless 
spirit, was the memorable Shays' Rebellion. 

With many previous local disturbances, this wide 
spread concert to resist the Government of the Com- 
monwealth, had become alarming in the summer of 
1786, especially throughout the counties of Berkshire, 
Hampshire, Worcester, Middlesex, and Bristol. The 
administration of justice in the courts had been ob- 
structed by the insurgents at Northampton, at Spring- 
field, at Worcester, at Concord, at Taunton. A body 
of the conspirators, fifteen hundred strong, were under 

8* 



90 MEMOIR OF 

arms in the vicinity of Northampton, and smaller parties 
elsewhere, committing numberless outrages upon the 
supporters of the government. The same riotous spirit 
in New Hampshire, menaced the Legislature in session 
at Exeter, and was only quelled by the prompt rally- 
ing of the citizens. Contiguous portions of Vermont 
and of New York, were becoming in like manner dis- 
affected. The collection of taxes was especially re- 
sisted, and loud demands for a redress of alleged griev- 
ances were made in every quarter.^ 

The General Court of Massachusetts had exerted 
itself to avert the impending storm, by conciliatory 
and temperate legislation ; but its lenity was mistaken 
for timidity. The more it sought to win the turbulent 
populace, the more infuriated and insolent they be- 
came. The military were, therefore, at last called out 
in strong force, and civil war began in earnest. The 
chief command of the troops was committed by Gov- 
ernor Bowdoin to General Benjamin Lincoln, " whose 
reputation and mildness of temper rendered him doub- 
ly capacitated for so delicate and important a trust." 
About three quarters of the whole force were to be 
raised in the counties most disturbed, and the remam- 
der in Suffolk and Essex. 

A brief, but arduous winter campaign of two or 

1 Holmes's. tA-nmpJejTol.H.' p., 471-477. Also IVIinot's History of 
the In^ui.TeGti9n.^,„<j.i^^_ jjyibfifjd Ji 

-8 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 



91 



three months, in 1787, sufficed. Such forces as Shays 
and his confederates could muster, in different locaH- 
ties, as at SjDringfield, Pittsfield, and their vicinities, 
were soon dispersed. There was httle actual fighting, 
but much severe marching, the insurrectionists every- 
where fleeing, and the troops pressing hard upon them 
in pursuit. 

While the army were thus summarily dispersing the 
rebels. Governor Bowdoin issued his Proclamation, 
dated February 9th, setting a price of £150 upon the 
head of Shays and of £100 upon each of the other 
three leaders, Wheeler, Parsons, and Day. On the 
16th of the same month, the Legislature passed an 
Act, defining the terms upon which pardon and indem- 
nity might be extended to all who had borne arms 
against the State, excepting these ; and, on the 10th 
of March, pursuant to this Act, a Resolve was pavssed, 
appointing a special commission to treat with the dis- 
affected, and receive their submission, as there was 
now evidence that large numbers were anxious to be 
reconciled to the government. 

The Commissioners were General Lincoln, the com- 
mander of the troops called out. Judge PhiUips, President 
of the Senate, and Samuel AUyne Otis, Speaker of the 
House of Representatives, who immediately addressed 
themselves to their responsible work. Repairing first 
to Berkshire, and then to Hampshire, and other coun- 
ties in succession, they in the brief space of a month, 



92 MEMOIR OF 

succeeded in effectually extinguisliing the last hope of 
the conspirators. Scattering everyvvdiere freely printed 
copies of the Act and Resolve, under which they were 
deputed, they invited applications for the offered 
amnesty. 

All applicants were required, by them, to bring a 
certificate, signed by two persons of knowai attach- 
ment to the government, that they were believed to 
be really penitent ; and were also obliged to subscribe 
a confession that they had been concerned in the re- 
bellion, that they were sincerely jDcnitent and wished 
to return to their allegiance to the State ; and to engage 
that they would defend the government and comply 
with the laws as faithful citizens, and exert themselves 
to induce others to do the same.^ As an illustration of 
the solicitude and gloom which now prevailed, as well 
as of the self-sacrificing devotion with which Judge 
Phillips participated in this commission, we cite here 
an extract from a letter of Madam Phillips to him 
while he was at Northampton. 

After referring to two or three previous letters which 
she had written, without asking or expecting him to 
reply while so absorbed with cares, she says : — 

" April 3, 1787. — I feel exceedingly for you, judging you 
must be anxious, very anxious, on account of the aspect of 
public affairs, which is truly alarming I — but I trust you will 

^ See Journal of General Court, 1787. Also Acts and Resolves. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 93 

not suffer your thoughts to make long visits to your family. 
I wish you to exert every faculty for the public good. I sin- 
cerely wish the Divine blessing may attend your consulta- 
tions. I am very willing to make any sacrifice, might tran- 
quillity be restored to our deluded States ; — Heaven only 
knows where it will end I " 

It was not long, however, that such forebodings con- 
tinued. Moving, as the troops had done, with great 
celerity from point to point, the Commissioners had the 
address to conciliate and win the disaffected in great 
numbers. In their report to the government, dated 
April 27, they stated that seven hundred and ninety 
persons had returned to their allegiance ; and that on 
the most careful inquiry into the various causes of the 
insurrection, they had found the chief cause to be 
" private debts," and " an undue use of articles of for- 
eign growth and manufacture, the principal cause of 
these debts." 

Meanwhile, many who had been involved in the in- 
surrection quietly withdrew from the contest with the 
government, before the crisis came, and the leaders 
fled from the State. It was in consequence of Judge 
Phillips's service in this high commission, that in the 
State election for this year, 1787, he was not one of 
the senatorial candidates, and in the organization of 
the Senate Mr. Adams was again chosen President; 
but the next year Mr. Phillips was reinstated in the 
chair, while General Lincoln was chosen Lieutenant- 



94 M E M m F 

Governor ; both, "with their associate, having won 
golden opinions in the Commonwealth for their great 
success in this trust 

Year after year now glided away with no marked 
change in his position; he was still the indefatigable 
judge, as well as the eminent senator, and many were 
beginning to cast their suffrages for him for yet higher 
offices. At tlie very next election, after his mission 
to the western counties during the insurrection, he re- 
ceived several votes in his native town for Governor ; 
and from this time, his friends, in increasing numbers, 
continued to vote for him either as Governor or Lieu- 
tenant-Governor annually, while invariably giving hun 
a full vote for senator also. Indeed, for several suc- 
cessive years, his name was upon their ticket, at the 
same time, for all three of these offices; and in the 
3'-ear 1796, he had more votes in the town for Governor 
than any other candidate. 

Yet, instead of desiring promotion, or even continu- 
ance, in the public service, except as a public duty, he 
sometimes intimates, during these years, his settled dis- 
taste for many of the scenes through which he is called 
to pass. "If our son John," he writes, March 2, 1795, 
" could be a witness to what has fallen within my no- 
tice in the four last weeks, j)ublic life, or rather Gen- 
eral Court life, would be the last object of his wish 
— his allusion here is, to the protracted delay of busi 






JUDGE PHILLIPS. 95 

ness in the Legislature, in consequence of the tamper- 
ing of interested parties with the committees, and 
" an uncommon degree of manoeuvring by certain gen- 
tlemen." 

While his fellow-citizens were thus, not without some 
reluctance on his part, holding him to his fitting sta- 
tion in the Senate, until he seemed a fixture there, and 
were intimating; their wish to raise him to other dio;- 
nities, the Commonwealth had borne its full part in 
the great work of consolidating the national govern- 
ment ; the Constitution of the United States had taken 
the place of the old Articles of Confederation ; party 
spirit had run high — and nowhere higher than in 
Andover, hitherto so united — in the debates con- 
nected with the adoption of this great Republican form 
of frovernment.^ 



O" 



\ The vote in the Massachusetts Convention upon the question of 
adopting the Federal Constitution stood, Yeas 187, Nays 168. In 
the other States there was a similar conflict of judgment, and of 
party feeling, so that as State after State finally adopted the great 
instrument the rejoicing of its advocates was enthusiastic. 

The decisive vote in Massachusetts was taken February 6, 1788, 
and the Chronicle of the next day, in communicating the event to 
the public, introduces it with this exulting caption : — 

" Ilail the day, and mark it well, 
Then old Anarch's kingdom fell, 
Then our dawning glory shone, 
Mark it. Freemen, 't is our own." 



96 MEMOIROF 

For this instrument itself, and for the great men 
who had devised it, Judge Philhps entertained the 
highest veneration ; and when in 1797-8-9, our amica- 
ble relations with France were interrupted, and intrigues 
of every description were disaffectmg many towards the 
government, he was not content to remain silent. Un- 
der his influence, a town meeting of the old type was 
held ; the earnestness and unanimity of Revolutionary 
days again appeared, notwithstanding the federal and 
anti-federal lines had been so distinctly drawn. In the 
church where he now statedly worshipped,^ before a 
very full assembly of the citizens, specially convened 
for the occasion, on the 14th of May, he as chairman 
of the committee, reported, and they unanimously 
adopted the following address : — 

[To the President of the United States.] 

" Sir, — We, the freeholders and other inhabitants of the 
town of Andover, in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 
beg leave to join the multitude of our fellow-citizens, in pre- 

Arrangements were promptly made by the citizens of Boston for a 
splendid pageant, which, in a few days, was celebrated with every 
sign of joy ; — and wlien, a short time after, the news came that 
New Ilamj)shlre had also adopted the Constitution, this being the 
ninth State, the number required to consummate the national Act, 
the whole town was thrown into a fever of excitement, and the 
bells rang for hours, as they had done when the Stamp-Act was re- 
pealed. 

^ The present Old South Church. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 97 

seiiting yon our warmest gratitude, for that wisdom, vigilance, 
integrity, and patriotism which have marked your adminis- 
tration ; and in particular, for your persevering solicitude to 
preserve to these States the blessings of peace and neutrality, 
upon such terms as would consist with the preservation of 
our essential rights and interests. 

" Although repeated attempts to accommodate subsisting 
differences with the French Republic have not produced the 
effect which might have been reasonably expected, they may 
prove essential means of our political salvation, by unfolding 
the designs and enormous demands of that government, 
which we have been unwilling to conclude our enemy. This 
disclosure must produce universal conviction, that no hope 
of safety is left for us without our own united virtuous ex- 
ertion. 

" We therefore again thank you, sir, for your solemn and 
repeated calls on the proper departments to make the most 
speedy and effectual provision against the worst events; — 
for your firm resolution that you will never surrender the in- 
dependence or essential interests of the country ; — and for 
summoning the people to unite with you in supplicating the 
direction and blessing of that Almighty Being, under whose 
patronage, if not criminal ourselves, we have nothing to fear 
from any power on earth. In the same resolution, we hold 
it to be our duty, with that of every American, cordially to 
concur. 

" Every attempt to detach us from our government, which 
is the work of our own hands, and from whence we have 
already derived blessings far surpassing the highest expecta- 
tions of its warmest admirers, we repel with indignation. 
To abandon such a government, and the invaluable privi- 

9 



98 MEMOIR OF 

leges, civil and religious, enjoyed under it, from any consid- 
eration whatever, would be acting a part unworthy the de- 
scendants of our renowned ancestors, bring indelible in- 
famy on ourselves, be an act of treachery to our posterity, 
and betray the basest ingratitude to, and distrust of, that 
Supreme Being, who gave us these blessings. 

" With an humble reliance therefore on this Being, whom 
we do, and ever will, acknowledge as the Arbiter of nations ; 
and confiding in the wisdom, patriotism, and firmness of the 
constituted authorities of our country, we are determined, at 
every hazard, to support those measures which they shall pre- 
scribe for the defence of these blessings." 

The cordial and very complimentary re-ply of the 
President to this letter, — which breathes alike the 
spirit of patriotism and of religion, — is interesting 
not only as showing his gratification in being thus ad- 
dressed, but his large indebtedness to the diction of 
the address, for the very language of his answer. We 
copy it, as entered at large upon the town records. 

[To the Freeholders and other inhabitants of the town of Andover, in the 

State of Massachusetts.] 

" Gentlemen, — Your address, unanimously adopted at a 
legal and very full meeting, has been presented to me by 
your Representative in Congress, Mr. Bartlett, and received 
with great pleasure. When you acknowledge in my admin- 
istration wisdom, vigilance, integrity, patriotism, and perse- 
vering solicitude to preserve to these States the blessings of 
peace and neutrality, upon such terms as would consist with 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 99 

the preservation of oiir essential rights and interests, you 
command my sincere gratitude. 

" The unfriendly designs and unreasonable demands of 
that government, whom we have been unwilling to conclude 
our enemy, have been long suspected by many, upon very 
probable grounds ; but never so clearly avowed and demon- 
strated as of late. May the discovery prove the essential 
means of our political salvation, 

" The conviction appears now to be nearly universal, that 
no hope of safety is left for us, without our own virtuous 
exertions. 

" The indignation with which you repel every attempt to 
detach you from that government, which is the work of your 
own hands, and from w^hence you have derived blessings far 
surpassing the highest expectations of its warmest admirers ; 
and, in short, all the sentiments of this excellent address, do 
you great honor. 

"JOHN ADAMS. 

" Philadelphia, May 25th, 1798." 

At the very time of the date of this letter, the as- 
pect of affairs had become so threatening, that Con- 
gress authorized the President to raise a provisional 
army without delay, and a few weeks later. General 
Washington was appointed Lieutenant-General and 
Commander-in-Chief The old Kevolutionary fire was 
kindled in all hearts. A letter from Judge Phillips to 
his son, at this time, shows that even he, the life-long 
civiHan, had determined to serve personally in the 
army, and to encourage his only son to volunteer also, 



100 MEMOIR OF 

if the exigency should require it ; so deeply did he 
feel the peril of his country. " No time," he writes 
August 3d, 1798, "ought to be lost in providing your- 
self and me with arms and accoutrements complete ; 
the prospect of our needing them increases ; it would 
not be very surprising to me, if we should be called 
on to use them much sooner than is generally ex- 
pected." It was not a mere profession of patriotism 
in words, which he addressed to the Executive, but 
the sober language of one who meant to act as well 
as to speak. 

The son, too, was animated by the same spirit. We 
cannot forbear to quote a few paragraphs from an 
oration dehvered by him in Charlestown at this pe- 
riod : — 

" Americans ! The present is a momentous crisis ! To the 
present actors on the stage is assigned the arduous and hon- 
orable task to determine whether man is capable of a Re- 
pubHcan Government, or must ever be the passive subject of 
arbitrary power. . . . After sustaining aggressions and depre- 
dations unprecedented, with a forbearance and longsuffering 
which have encouraged the enemy to add insult to rapine ; 
after reiterated attempts at explanation and accommodation, 
with a condescension and patience that have welhiigh ex- 
cited their contempt ; every question about the justice of our 
cause is solved, and the only alternative is submission or re- 
sistance. 

" Are not a commerce^ the source of our wealth and glory ; 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 101 

a liberty^ purchased in fields of blood ; a constituiion, the 
fortress of our safety, worthy to be defended ? Shall we be- 
hold freedom, humanity, virtue, public faith, morality, and 
religion trampled in the dust, and by our silence and inac- 
tion, become accessories to the crime ? Rather let us sprinlde 
the mountains, and crimson the waves with our most precious 
blood ! 

" We have before our eves those statesmen and warriors, 
who have acted a conspicuous part in conducting us through 
the Revolution, whose heads are silvered in their country's 
service, who anxiously mark what estimate their SONS place 
on the inheritance purchased for them, and are ready to lead 
them once more to victory or death. At the head of a host 
of experienced heroes, stands the man acknowledged by the 
oldest general in Europe to be the greatest general in the 
world; the beloved, the revered, the illustrious Washington 
still lives ; and, at his country's call, has again unfurled the 
banners of freedom ; has already, as with electric fire, inspired 
with redoubled ardor every American breast; and will con- 
found with dismay the hearts of our enemies. Under such 
a leader, no American will refuse to become a soldier, and 
no soldier will dare to be a coward." 

The crisis, however, was a bloodless one. This uni- 
versal determination to maintain our neutrality at all 
hazards, convinced the French authorities of their 
mistake, if not of their injustice ; and negotiation, 
after repeated failures, finally terminated in a treaty 
of peace. 



9* 



102 MEMOIR OF 

Id Judge Phillips's career as a civilian, only one other 
point now remains to be noticed. It has already been 
stated, that for many years his friends had, in consid- 
erable numbers, voted for him as Governor or Lieuten- 
ant-Governor in the canvass for State officers. 

At the election in April, 1801, his name was, by 
general consent, placed upon the ticket of the Feder- 
alists for Lieutenant-Governor, with that of Caleb 
Strong for Governor ; and, although the contest be- 
tween the two parties was spirited, these candidates 
were elected by a large vote. In Andover, Judge 
Phillips polled a larger vote by far than had been 
thrown for any previous candidate, and much larger 
than was cast for the able and popular Governor. 

We have chanced to obtain a copy of a private 
letter inclosing a confidential circular, prepared with a 
view to secure his election, which incidentally discloses 
his own feeling and that of his friends at the time. "It 
is well understood," they say, " that Mr. Phillips will not 
decline, though he is incapable of soliciting the office ; " 
and they now recount, in glowing terms, his many pub- 
lic services, together with the traits of character which 
he had exhibited in them all, as presenting the strong- 
est possible plea for his election. " Those who were 
witnesses to his conduct," in the Revolution, they urge, 
" can testify, whether any honest exertions in his 
power were ever spared by night or by day, for at- 
taining the object of that conflict;" then glancing at 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 103 

his career in the Constitutional Convention and in the 
General Court, they say of him as President of the 
Senate, " the members of that Honorable Board can 
testify with what punctuaUty, assiduity, fidelity, impar- 
tiality, and despatch, he has discharged the duties of 
that office ; " and in conclusion, they add, " that his uni- 
form practice has been to make his private concerns 
give place to his public duties." 

Coming to this honorable station with these grati- 
fying antecedents, and associated in the executive 
department now with a Governor and Council of dis- 
tinguished ability, he adorned the office which thence- 
forth became associated with his name. 

But though so long engaged in the public service, 
under such a variety of civic cares, which occupied his 
time and tasked his energies, he was not wholly a pub- 
lic man; and we must now return, to follow him 
through other less conspicuous, but not less useful 
scenes, that may give us a nearer and more full in- 
sia-ht into his character. 

ID 



CnATTER VIII. 

HIS ENTERPRISES AJJD PURSUITS AS A MAN OF BUSINESS. 

When his admiring friends tell us " that his uniform, 
practice has been to make his private concerns give 
place to his public duties," they state the exact truth ; 
for no man was more ready than he to forego all per- 
sonal advantage in order to benefit the community, 
and none was ever apparently less ambitious than he 
of public distinction. Yet, to infer from this, or from 
any thing which has been said of his eager and mani- 
fold devotion to the general good, that his private 
affairs suffered disastrously in consequence, or that he 
had no careful oversight of them, and no marked in- 
terest in them, would be a great mistake. It is true 
that very few men, with such constant public engage- 
ments, would have found time to prosecute important 
private enterprises systematically ; but in just this 
respect he was an uncommon man. " In every pur- 
suit," says Knapp,^ "he was distinguished for prompt- 
ness, punctuality, and practical good-sense ; and his 
short life, by order, exactness, and method, was filled 

^ Marshal Soult's Journal, p. 103. 

(104) 



MEMOIR OF JUDGE PHILLIPS. 105 

with incredible attentions to business." There was 
not, in fact, a year of all his crowded civil labors, 
much as they demanded of his time and strength in 
preparing for them and performing them, in which he 
had less private engagements on his hands than most 
men of mere business. 

It would be of little interest for us, of this genera- 
tion, to trace out the details of his different enter- 
prises, but enough may be seen at a glance to verify 
this statement. In addition to his effective coopera- 
tion with his father, in various affairs, soon after leav- 
ing College, he became at an early period the pur- 
chaser of several estates on his own account, which 
made him an extensive farmer ; and the tradition is, 
that there was not in all the region a better farmer 
than he. His lands were constantly improving under 
his hand, and yet in a high degree, not only produc- 
tive, but remunerative, although cultivated entirely 
by hired labor. 

He was hardly settled in life, too, it will be remem- 
bered, when in the pubhc crisis, he with so much tact 
and energy undertook the manufacture of powder in 
large quantities, not relinquishing the business till it 
had well repaid him, and the occasion for it had passed 
away, and not in the least impeded by it in his agri- 
cultural pursuits. In connection with his powder-mill, 
a grist-mill also was for a considerable period run by 



106 MEMOIR OF 

him, and a saw-mill, and finally a paper-mill ; over all 
of wliicli lie exercised such supervision, as to know 
their condition accurately, and obtain a revenue from 
them. The paper-mill, especially, became, for a tune, 
a leading branch of his business. 

At the same time he owned and superintended two 
stores, one near his residence in Andover, and another 
in Methuen ; and those who served him in them felt 
that, while he was not unreasonably distrustful or in- 
quisitive, his practised eye was upon every part of the 
business, and his scores of questions ever and anon 
must be satisfactorily answered. 

By various negotiations, too, at different periods, he 
obtained possession of large tracts of wild land in 
Maine and New Hampshire, amounting in all to about 
three thousand acres, which frequently required his 
care; wdiile upon his various estates in Andover, he 
superintended the erection or repair of numerous 
buildings, including his own mansion-house, — the 
materials for which were drawn chiefly from his 
timber lands in New Hampshire. 

In consequence of these numerous engagements in 
business, which centred in Andover, while his duties 
as judge and senator kept him very much from home, 
he was in the habit of making frequent journeys, espe- 
cially from Boston to Andover, and usually in the 
night, on horseback, from which, neither his frail 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 107 

health, nor the urgency of his friends, could dissuade 
him. Sometimes in the darkness he missed his way, 
and did not reach home till nearly morning. Often, 
through weariness, he slept in his saddle, and was 
awakened only by the sudden stopping or starting of 
his horse. 

Late in the winter of 1794, in one of these night 
excursions, he fell from his horse and fractured his 
leg ; but fortunately, he had a riding companion, and 
was near the residence of his friend, Mr. Brooks, in 
Medford, where he was immediately carried. 

The instant his accident was known to Mr. Brooks's 
family, their negro servant hastily dressed himself, 
hurried off with a sleigh to the spot, Ufted Judge Phil- 
lips into the conveyance, and when they reached the 
house, took him in his arms and bore him carefully in, 
showing, in every motion, the greatest alacrity and 
tenderness. "What makes you so eager to help the 
Judge ? " he was asked. " Help him ! " was the reply, 
" I 'd like to do any thing for him ; he always touches 
his hat to me when he goes hy here." 

This disaster, convinced him at last of his mistake 
in so exposing himself The fracture did not prove to 
be a severe one. A few weeks of confinement, in 
which Madam Phillips and his cousin. Miss Sally Phil- 
lips,^ were alternately with him, ensued ; and then, long 

^ Married afterwards to Deacon Mark Newman. 



108 MEMOIR OF 

before he could lay aside his crutches, he was busy at 
his work acrain in the Senate and at home. But an- 
other and more disastrous consequence of his ill-timed 
journeys, was already becoming apparent. His friends 
saw with deep pain, that his exposures were hastening 
toward a crisis the general debility under which he 
labored, and especially a chronic asthma, which had 
now become exceedingly distressing to him. In fact, 
many suf)posed that the foundation of this disease 
was laid in these very imprudences. When it was 
too late, therefore, he yielded to their entreaties, and 
spared himself; but through his whole life, his aptitude 
for business of every kind, and his interest in it, were 
such as to insure the full success of any enterprise in 
which he engaged, however remote apparently from 
all his usual tastes and toils it might be. 

Much of all that he did, in carrying on his various 
private enterprises, was effected by correspondence 
chiefly. His letters to his son and others on business, 
of which we have examined large numbers, evince 
great sagacity and forecast, with the minutest atten- 
tion to details, and a habit of applying principles of 
taste, or science, or political economy, or patriotism, or 
Christian morality, to one and another branch of his 
affairs, which any man might safely imitate. 

The fruit of so much tact and effort was an ample 
estate, accumulated by his own hands, besides the 
liberal patrimony which he finally inherited from his 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 109 

father, and the ample fortune of Madam Phillips in 
her own right ; ^ and with such a family as his, who had 
both witnessed and shared his successful efforts in so 
many branches of business, his property added largely 
to the attractions and enjoyments of his honored man- 
sion, as the scene of his own domestic life, and of his 
fitting hospitalities toward others, to which we will 
now pass. 

* Exclusive of the portion of Madam Phillips, the estate of Judge 
Phillips, as inventoried by the appraisers and administrator, amounted, 
at his decease, to nearly $150,000 ; a large proportion of the prop- 
erty being valuable real estate, in Andover and elsewhere. 



10 



CHAPTER IX. 

HIS DOMESTIC AND SOCIAL LIFE. 

We have already alluded to the embarrassments 
connected with his early marriage. It was a some- 
what inauspicious commencement of his household 
history ; for though consent to his marriage was fully 
given, several years elapsed before it was heartily ap- 
proved by his parents. But the brilliant and yet solid 
virtues of their new daughter, blended with the mild 
but commanding demeanor of their son, "like apjiles 
of gold in pictures of silver," gradually won them over 
to the heartiest satisfaction. For nearly four years 
the two families lived virtually as one, in contiguous 
dwellings, and for a jDortion of the period under the 
same roof, in daily contact and sympathy, and en- 
gaged, much of the time, in joint labors. 

But the plans of the son soon led him to remove 
from the old homestead, with the entire concurrence 
of his father. He was already, as we have seen, 
serving his native place as town clerk and treasurer. 
His fellow-citizens had elected him to the Provincial 
Congress. He had snatched an interval in which he 

(110) 



MEMOIR OF JUDGE PHILLIPS. Ill 

could be absent without blame, to hurry homeward 
in mid-winter, and set on foot the powder-mill enter- 
prise, which could be most advantageously located 
in the south village of the town ; another long 
cherished scheme, too, the founding of an Academy, 
was fast maturing now in his mind, and, after some 
unavailing efforts to perfect this satisfactorily in his 
native village, the prospect of greater success in the 
South Parish invited him to change his residence. 
Indeed, it was this latter cause which mainly influ- 
enced him, as we shall presently see. 

The precise date of his removal to the South Parish, 
it has not been found possible accurately to deter- 
mine, but it is supposed to have been in the spring 
of 1777, about six months subsequent to the birth of 
his son John; such is the tradition in the family. In 
April, 1778, there is positive evidence, that he was 
already located here, in the occupancy of a house 
which has since then been invested with more historic 
interest than any other in the village ; namely, the 
old dwelling on the estate of George Abbott, then 
recently purchased with the view of here founding 
the Academy. To some interesting reminiscences con- 
nected with this house, there will be occasion to refer 
more particularly hereafter. As connected merely with 
the home life of Mr. Phillips, we need only say of it, 
that the period of his residence here was eminently 
the type of all his subsequent career, both public and 
private. 



112 MEMOIR OF 

It was here that Madam PhiUips began to be left, 
in her self-relying dignity and energy, to act as sole 
head of the family, in his frequent and long absences, 
as she was obliged to do in all subsequent years. 
Here, his own and her cheerful self-denials and sacri- 
fices, to accomplish great objects on which their hearts 
were set, first became a part of their daily experience. 
The house could furnish no elegances, or even con- 
veniences, such as both of them had always enjoyed ; 
yet they chose it, and gave it at once dignity and 
attractiveness. Tradition still points us to the western 
window in the attic, at which she loved to sit, in his 
absence, and gaze upon the extended landscape before 
her, and lift up her heart to the Heavenly One for 
strength according to her day. Taste and piety were 
here cultivated together. 

It was most fortunate for him, that in her he had 
found one so willing to bear the great family cares 
and responsibilities thrown upon her in consequence of 
his many absences and absorbing engagements. This 
she appears to have cheerfully done, not only from 
the strength of her regard for him, but from her deep 
interest in the objects to which he was devoted. We 
have already seen how ready she was " to make any 
sacrifice," if she could thereby aid him in serving the 
public ; with the same high appreciation of his other 
endeavors, she was daily not only encouraging him but 
cooperating with him. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. . 113 

While lie was digging with his men in th'e trenches 
for his powder-mill, she was sitting up, sometimes till 
midnight, to prepare lint and bandages for the wounded 
soldiers in the army. When he could not personally 
be at hand to inspect the work which he had planned 
on the farm or elsewhere, she received his suggestions 
by letter, and saw that they were carefully followed. 
If any repairs of the house, or changes of furniture, 
were to be made, what he could not be present to 
sujaerintend she j)i"ocured to be done promptly ; just as 
before their removal to the South Parish, she had with 
her own hand kept the records for him as town clerk; 
and done not a little of his business for him as town 
treasurer! We have carefully examined the town 
records, covering the period for which he was clerk, 
and find every page written by her; the marginal 
notes, or indices, only, being entered by his pen, 
although this was the period in which the town was 
so often acting upon revolutionary questions, and the 
records cover a very large space. 

The manner of life, thus begun, in this their first 
residence here, was continued in the same spirit, when 
after a few years, this house was relinquished to the 
principal of the newly founded Academy, and they 
removed to another, still more retired and less com- 
modious. 

In this dwelling, now occupied after some material 
improvements by Mr. Moses Abbott, the admiring friend 

10* 



114 MEMOIR OF 

of Judge "Phillips, and long his confidential clerk, the 
family remained until at last their new and sjDacious 
mansion-house was erected. The aged mother of 
Madam Phillips, Mrs. Judge Foxcroft, was now a mem- 
ber of the family, and died here, and here the second 
son, Samuel, was born. The earliest recollections of 
the family by some now living, are of their residence 
in this secluded home, of which Judge Phillips obtained 
possession by purchasing the thirds of the widow of 
David Chandler, the interest of the heirs not being 
included. It was necessarily, and intentionally, doubt- 
less, a temporary expedient, as we find from deeds of 
various lots purchased by him, that in April, 1782, he 
was already preparing to erect a mansion, suited to 
his taste and position. 

With a numerous group of relatives, drawn toward 
them by no common attachments; with a wide and 
rapidly increasing circle of intimate friends, and gen- 
eral acquaintances in his public stations, to all of whom 
they wished to extend a generous hospitality, it had 
been hardly possible for them, in any good degree, thus 
far to realize their ideal of social life. They could 
willingly, year after year, incommode themselves, and 
move from place to place as if dwelling in tents ; but 
to be habitually unable to entertain, in due style, their 
many valued friends, was a constant occasion of regret. 



The building of the mansion-house was an era in the 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 115 

village, not less than in tlieir family history. Planned 
on a scale beyond any thing then known in the town, 
the massive timbers and much of the lumber coming 
from his New Hampshire lands, it was framed to be 
raised in sections in a manner entirely novel to the cit- 
izens, and requiring all the force that could be assem- 
bled; and the raising was a memorable occasion. 
"The whole town was present," says one who was 
there. When all the preparations for raising the first 
section had been made, the pastor, Rev. Mr. French, 
offered a solemn prayer; and then the strong arms 
grasped the ropes and pikes, and all was reared with- 
out accident. In due time the stately edifice was 
completed ; the grounds were laid out ; the elms, in 
front, were planted, Judge Phillips setting most of 
them with his own hand ; and every thing about the 
premises was arranged, as the structure and furnishing 
of the house itself had been, upon a most liberal scale. 
It was not till the autumn of 1785 that the house was 
entirely finished, although it was so far done, that the 
family moved into it in the latter part of the year 
1782. 

From this date, their natural style of life at home 
commenced, — the style to which they had been born, 
and for which they were specially fitted, not more by 
culture than by their native tastes. The characteristic 
spirit of each is now associated with them, as seen in 



116 MEMOIR OF , 

this house rather than from any other point of view. 
The schohars, who recall him, think of him as he used 
to meet them at the south door and impress some 
timely hint upon their minds. The people of the town 
describe him as they saw him in one or another room. 
Madam Phillips and the children are, in like manner, 
associated in their minds, and in the memory of guests, 
with this or that apartment, and with their place at 
the table, or their seat in the family group. 

The period through which Judge Phillips had now 
passed, since his marriage in 1773, had been in the 
highest degree exciting. The incessant demands which 
it had made upon him for the sacrifice of his home 
society and enjoyments, together with his repeated 
removals from house to house, had not only been a 
severe self-denial to him, but a great perplexity to her. 
In addition to the double responsibility thrown upon 
her, by his engagements and absences, she could not 
be free from anxiety for him. He was continually over- 
tasking himself At times he was in the immediate 
vicinity of the seat of war. In June, 1775, the Prov- 
incial CouQ-ress had directed the removal of the colleo;e 
hbrary and apparatus from Cambridge to Andover, 
under his supervision.^ In a letter, without date, 
written while he was engaged in this work, he says : — 

" Half a moment only is indulged to a heart that is too 
' Quincy's Hist. H. U. Vol. II. p. 164-166. 



. JUDGE PHILLIPS. 117 

full to open itself in a short period Amid all the 

terrors of battle I was so busily engaged in Harvard Library 
that I never even heard of the engagement, (I mean the 

siege,) till it was completed We have got near the 

conclusion of that arduous, and I hope useful service. Mat- 
ters of so great importance are constantly urging, that I 
find myself impelled to control a very urgent desire of see- 
ing my best self this night." 

To this she replies, late in the evening of the next 
day: — 

" I am now pleasing myself with the prospect of spending 
a little time immediately with my best friend. I wrote you 
to-day, 't is true, but what I wrote I am uncertain, as I was 
in the utmost agitation, — may you be preserved from every 
unhappy circumstance, exclusive of absence from your sin- 
cere friend." 

The British were finally compelled to evacuate Bos- 
ton, in March, 1776 ; and after this, there was little 
ground for any such anxieties respecting him. 

In June, 1778, he narrowly escaped being blown up 
with his powder-mill, when it exploded, and three per- 
sons were killed. It was his intention to go down to 
the mill from his house that morning, early, and give 
some directions, prior to his leaving in the afternoon 
for Boston ; but a gentleman unexpectedly called on 
business at his house, and detained him for an hour or. 
two, and in this interval the explosion took place. 



118 MEMOIR OF 

With deep gratitude, both he and his friends marked 
this as a signal interposition of Providence to sliield 
him.^ 

It was a part of Madam PhiUips's womanly nature 
to be in a high degree sensitive to every thing which 
affected his public character ; she was gratified — who 
would not have been — when he was promoted or 
eulogized; she shrank from the very thought of his 
being censured. A life-long solicitude thus pressed 
upon her spirit, in connection with the elections, the 
parties, the acrimonies of the times, linked as his cher- 
ished name was with them all at some point contin- 
ually. 

Yet with all these checks, their home was to both 
the central attraction. To him it was the more glad- 
dening, because of his many exiles from it. To her 
it shone in a new lustre, whenever he could return to 
it. The compensatory law of life, which brings bless- 
ing out of trial, if the trial be borne aright, intensified 
and elevated their enjoyrpents. The very reasons 
which parted them so much were stunulating in their 
power. It gave a richer tone to the character of each, 

^ In October, the General Court by a Resolve, requested Mr. 
Phillips to repair his mill without loss of time, and made him a 
grant of £400 in consideration of his losses, besides increasing for 
a time the bounty upon all powder manufactured by him, and en- 
gaging to bear half the loss should a similar disaster be again in- 
curred. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 119 

to be thus enduring and acting for others' interests, 
at the cost of temporarily sacrificing their own. 

Their correspondence became, for long periods, a 
substitute for conversation, both wielding a ready and 
accurate pen. Notwithstanding her remarkable con- 
versational powers, she preferred to write rather than 
to speak. Her " beloved pen," as one of her admirers 
has called it, could best express her feelings. Her 
fondness for writing was a strong passion, whether it 
w^ere her own or others' thoughts, which would grace 
the manuscrijDt. His letters and other papers were 
prepared with much less facility. With her it was an 
exercise of spontaneous taste and tact ; with him, it 
was careful labor. One of the peculiarities of all his 
manuscripts, not excepting his most familiar and con- 
fidential letters, is the careful revision which he be- 
stowed on them, as shown in erasures and changes 
without number. Of the scores of letters written by 
them to each other, to which we have had access, there 
is scarcely one from either which will not illustrate 
these characteristics of their style ; and from the first 
line to the last in them all on both sides, we have been 
surprised and gratified beyond expression, not to find 
a word that has detracted from our respect or our 
admiration for them. 

Their letters are not in the style of books to be 
printed, it is true ; if they were, they would not be 
letters. But while, in a thousand ways, they let us 



120 MEMOIR OF 

into the secret of their daily spirit, familiarly and 
freely, the individuality of each is preserved with re- 
markable distinctness; whether the subject of their 
letters for the time be conjugal sentiment mainly, or 
business, or the transient news of the hour, or the as- 
pect of public affairs, or some religious theme. 

Still, in such family communications, incidents and 
facts of every description always find a place, which 
no one would be expected to make public ; even 
though their omission may be expedient, on no other 
ground. We must be content with mere extracts. 

Recallino; them now as installed in their new man- 
sion, emerging from a long period of anxious self-denial, 
let us listen to them for a few moments, as they move 
along their prosperous and honored career. The fol- 
lowing extracts are taken from letters written by him 
at Boston, and from her replies : — 

" February 9, 1785. — I will write one line to my dear 
friend, if it be only to thank her for the kind favor indulged 

me by Mrs. B ; I was rejoiced to find that you did not 

hesitate to say that you was wel^ with an emphasis. . . . 
I am sorry you take so much pains to excuse the delay of 
copying the constitution.^ ... I hope my mother is still 
with you, and that she wiU protract her visit as long as she 
can. Do give my duty to her, and tell her I think much of 
her advice ; I wish I may make nearer approaches daily to 



1 n 



The Constitution of Phillips Academy. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 121 

her wishes, and that I shall have the advantage of that most 
powerfu] argument to induce a serious attention to my health ; 
namely, the example of those for whose society I should be 
most desirous of a continuance here. This I hope will be 
noted by my best friend. . . . Do be religiously attentive to 
your eyes, if you love me. 

" With the tenderest attachment, 

" S. P. Jr." 

" February 18, 1785. — Between twelve and one o'clock, 
the Governor took his leave of the General Court in form ; 
the ceremony was in the Representatives' room ; but after a 
message had gone to acquaint his Excellency that the Leg- 
islature were ready to receive him, a flutter ensued, which 
well nigh brought us into a disagreeable situation indeed. 
After the above-mentioned joint message, the House sent 
one to the Senate, informing that the body of seats in the 
south-west part of their chamber would be assigned to the 
Senate ; (now the seats they had usually taken were the front 
seats, on the right and left of the chair). The Senate, after 
two or three propositions being made and rejected in a hurry^ 
returned an answer to the House, that they did not agree to 
the proposal of the House respecting seats, but would take 
those ivhich had been usually assigned them, or would accom- 
modate themselves. 

" Another message was soon returned, informing that the 
House had previously reconsidered their proposition before 
made, and voted to assign the usual seats ; the two Houses 
then met. The Governor soon appeared, preceded by the 
sheriff, supported under one arm by the Messenger of the 
Governor and Council, and succeeded by his Council and a 

11 



122 M E M I R F 

number of spectators, and was introduced by the President 
and Speaker to the Chair ; then all sat down ; after remain- 
ing seated a few minutes and the Governor had refreshed 
himself with some reviving drops, he arose, and, addressing 
the President and Senate, the Speaker and House of Repre- 
sentatives, told them the design of that meeting; thanked 
them and the people whom they ' so worthily govern,' for 
all their kindness ; that however unfortunate he had been 
in tlie execution of the various important offices to which 
he had been elected, he was conscious that he had been uni- 
formly actuated by the sincerest intentions to serve them ; 
that his health made it his indispensable duty to retire for 
the present, but if he should ever be able to render them 
further service, he should be ready to afford it; then, after 
addressing himself to the Lieutenant-Governor, whom the 
Constitution assigned to the chair as his successor, and 
wishing his administration might be easy to himself and 
happy to the people, he addressed the executive and leg- 
islative branches, with the heads of each separately ; and 
wished them the smiles of Heaven here, and that they 
might be introduced ' to characters of honor ' hereafter." 

"June 28, 1785. . . . After this week, I hope to take 
some burden from your shoulders ; the court are determined 
to meet at eight in the morning, and last night they sat till 
after eight in the evening ; you will, therefore, send a horse 
on Friday to Swan's on the neck, for your affectionate hus- 
band, " S. Phillips, Jr." 

" October 28, 1785, — Not a word more about the new pro- 
fessorship, saving some conversation that took place at club, 
at Cambridge, last Sabbath evening ; our brother offered to 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 123 

pledge himself that neither my father or I would ask him 
to tarry, if he should choose to remove. ... I hope my father 
tarries with you night as well as day ; travelling back and 
forth morning and evening, must be considerable addition to 
his toil, and he is wanted as much at those seasons as any. 
I hope the little sons are well, and that they do n't haunt 
their mamma as sometimes ; give my love to them, with a kiss 
for the younger, and tell him, if he intends to have one from 
his papa when he comes home, he must let me hear a good 
account of him." 

" October 28, 1785. — ... I can't content myself without 
catching a moment in the hurry of Senate to acknowledge 
your kind favor by Thornton, though it is pretty plain from 
the appearance of your letter, that you are too much pressed 
with care and business for your health, comfort, and useful- 
ness, all of which we are bound to consult by the duty we 
owe to God, our country, our family, our neighbors, and our- 
selves ; . . . hope t^ see you to-morrow, and to try the effect 
of personal solicitations for a visit to Boston."' 

" November 18, 1785. — I am very happy that things go 
on so smoothly with the new neighbors ; may every agree- 
able circumstance continue, and every bright scene grow 

brighter and brighter Love to our children, and duty 

to parents. No farther light yet from any quarter respecting 
the newly elected Professor; I rejoice exceedingly that your 
mind is in so agreeable a state relating to that matter." 

"March 2, 1786.— Mr. Bingham had better attend the 
Academy only as health will permit, though it should be 
but half the time, than to overdo and render himself unable 
to attend at all. 

" Your parting with Mr. Pearson will be, or has been, a 



124 MEMOIR OF 

grievous one, but perhaps the parting will not be a final one, 

and that all your good days are not over When you 

can without too much inconvenience, do let me hear from 
you. Adieu, your most affectionate 

" S. P. Jr." 

" March 23, 1786. — I thank my dear friend for her favor 
by our good neighbor ; it must be something very extraordi- 
nary to prevent my being at home on Saturday. Your ac- 
count of the smoke and cold^ with which our friends have 
been visited, is very gloomy ; such an evil viiist be remedied 
by some means or other, — I should propose one, if I did 
not expect to be at home before any alteration would prob- 
ably be made. — Cousin John I have not seen this week, and 
shall be happy to deliver your message ; advice from you 
will have great weight with him, though by no means so 
great as it would if received immediately from your own 
pen or lips ; often have I wished that an epistolary inter- 
course was to take place between you and some of our most 
promising young gentlemen, after they have left us. I firmly 
believe such a measure would, in many cases, be a happy 
security from vice, and would be the means of very useful 
improvements ; and this, not only from the letters themselves, 
but those letters and that correspondence would be a pow- 
erful incentive to improvements in knowledge, solid and 
ornamental ; for I am very confident that a desire of appear- 
ing to advantage with the other sex will oftentimes influence 
minds, that are unmoved by other considerations; but I must 
run, after I have assured you of the ardent affection of your 
unworthy husband. S. P. Jr." 

^ In the Academy. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 125 

" June 2, 1786. — Mr. Wardwell is so kind as to give me 
an opportunity to convey a line to you, which will not be 
unacceptable, if it only serves to evidence that my attention 
is employed upon an object whose distance does not remove 

the power of attraction Have you employed Dinah 

yet, and will you do it ? by your conduct in this instance, I 
shall judge of your regard for my enjoyment, for as you 
lately said, actions speak louder than words. Please to ten- 
der duty, love, regards, etc., as due, and believe me to be in 
sincerity yours in the bonds of genuine affection. 

« S. P. Jr." 

Such expressions of his watchful solicitude for her 
happiness in the arrangements at their home, are con- 
stantly occurring in his letters, while she as uniformly 
manifested a deep interest in the great public exigen- 
cies which occupied his thoughts. Often her replies, 
in the correspondence, adverted to some such topic, 
more than to incidents of family or personal interest ; 
so that while involved in his manifold public cares, he 
was never oppressed with the feeling that she would 
have him leave them for her sake. 

Indeed, the predominant tone of her letters has 
seemed to us, in this respect, not less remarkable than 
his. He writes little of the times, or of measures to 
meet them, or even of his own part in public affairs, — 
but more of the kindnesses shown him by his friends, 
and of the pains he has taken to find some rare article 
to send her, and of some uneasiness which he feels, lest 

11* 



12G MEMOIR OF 

she should suffer from madequate servants or excess 
of company. She touches upon all such matters lightly, 
and pours out the fear, the hope, the prayer of her 
generous heart for the suffering, distracted country, 
and for his welfare in its service. 

Among her letters, we find one without date, which 
appears to have been written in the autumn of 1786, 
from which we copy a few paragraphs : — 

" I find Mr. Holbrook is going to Boston in the morning, 
and as you mentioned my writing, (which looks as if it gave 
you pleasure to hear from me in this way,) I throw aside my 
tatterdemalions a few minutes to enjoy myself; believe me 
't is the greatest pleasure I can have when absent from you ; 
but here a gloom strikes my mind ! I almost wonder that 
you can advert to me, at such a time of public trouble. I 
think it a pleasing proof of your affection, such a proof as I 

feel myself most sensibly affected by Trouble still at the 

westward I What will become of us ? from present appear- 
ances, I fear little ought we dare to hope for better times. 
.... Surely, we have no right to expect the interposition of 
Heaven in our behalf, till we can act from better motives. 
You seem to have some faith that we sliall see better times. 
Heaven grant that we may ; that virtue may be the pm-suit 
of every mind ; that every one may study and be convinced 
that the chief end and happiness of man is to glorify God 

and enjoy him forever Accept my best wishes, and 

ask Mrs. Phillips's acceptance of affectionate inquiries after 
her health ; love to the family, — pray don't ride late in the 
evening, if you love your best friend. Mr. Pemberton's re- 
spects to Judge Phillips. Phoebe." 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 127 

Subsequently she writes to encourage, and yet re- 
strain him : — 

" Do not suffer your mind to be unduly engrossed by any 
tiling; soon it will be said of us, that we are gone! Let 
this consideration weigh with us, to incline us to enjoy what 
we can in the line of duty, without distressing ourselves as 
to the accomplishment of future scenes. By endeavoring to 
accomplish too much, experience teaches us, we often fall far 
short of a mark we might reach, if our wishes were not ex- 
travagant. I most ardently wish, my dear friend, that you 
may be so happy as to obtain such direction, assistance, and 
support, as shall finally set you above the reach of all trouble. 
Do not suffer yourself to be anxious about coming home ; 
should you, you may lay a foundation for iUness, which may 
prove fatal, for a time, to your active powers. I know there 
is much business to attend to here, but it will answer no 
purpose to hurry and distress yourself to get home ; do en- 
joy what you can, and take as good care of yourself as possi- 
ble. All happiness attend you. 

"Yours, P. P." 

A few months after this, in reply to a similar letter, 
he writes : — 

" May 31, 1792. — I thank you kindly for your acceptable 
favor by Mr. Pembcrton. I am bound to gratify you if I 
can in return. 

" As to the transactions of yesterday, the paper will show 
you the elections. What you said and looked^ determined 
me before I came from home to accept the office I had held, 
if offered again, unless something unexpected should turn up 



128 MEMOIR OF 

to prevent; but had it not been for this determination, the 
unanimity and cordiality of my brethren would have had 
great weight. The sermon was excellent as well as the 
prayer. The Governor gave me an invitation to dine, which 
I accepted, and was treated very politely. 

" As the weather is so exhausting and the family larger 
than it was, let me entreat you to procure some other female 
help, — Moses' sister, Happy, or anybody, rather than none. 
Will you be so good as to desire with freedom the attend- 
ance of Betsy Whitwell? If you will gratify me in these 
matters, you will lay me under additional obligations to 
gratify you in your requests respecting my health. 

" Your affectionate friend, S. P." 

Toward the close of the succeeding General Court, 
under date of "February 13, 1794," he says: — 

' " I was much obliged by your favor by Mr. Abbott, and 
for the opportunity you gave me of presenting your acknowl- 
edgments to my aunt. I presume my uncle has been made 
acquainted with and gratified by the contents, as he has 
been more than commonly cheerful and pleasant since their 
receipt ; although he preserves so uniform an appearance 
of good-humor that I have not seen the resemblance of a 
frown since I first came down. I was also pleased with 
our little son's remembrance of my aunt, and with the hand- 
some manner in which he expressed his acknowledgments. 
He must have had the aid. of some good friend, and such 
he will never want while he retains the disposition which he 
now discovers. Knowing how much you enjoy in Miss Sally, 
you will hardly thank me for dispossessing you of her on 
Saturday eve. ... As she sometimes inquires for news, 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 129 

when people go from below, I hardly know what to say — 
unless that the Prince went to Cambridge to-day with Mr. 
Russell to visit the College, — that he did not go to the 
theatre on Monday night, though the public papers an- 
nounced to us that he would be there — that the House 
have voted to impeach William Hunt, Esq., in which case 
a solemn trial will be had before the Senate — that Mr. 
Kirkland has united a pair in the bonds of matrimony, 
though he remains single and disengaged — and that, now 
' Governor Hancock is dead,' and Lieut. Gov. Adams has 
made a speech, the two Houses cannot agree on an answer to 
it. A detail of General Court proceedings would not, it is 
presumed, afford much gratification. 

" Please to present the book, herewith sent, to Miss Sally. 

" Yours, in sincerity, 

" S. Phillips." 

A few weeks later the Judge writes from his con.' 
finement in Medford, of which we have spoken in 
the preceding chapter: — 

" April 16, 1794. — Mr. Abbott has been waiting while I 
have been writing on necessary business, and left me only 
time to tell you that I am as well in health as usual, (I 
was going to say, for Miss Sally and Moses have got into 
so high a gale, that I hardly know what I write,) — it is 
more doubtful what particular day I shall go up than it was 
yesterday ; not that my leg is worse, but we receive many 
cautions about going too early. We are greatly pleased 
with the idea of seeing you to-morrow, and hope you will 



130 MEMOIR OF 

have a comfortable ride. . . . Pray make my love to the 
children, and suitables to all inquiring friends. 

" Yours sincerely and affectionately, S. P." 

Although disabled by this casualty and but par- 
tially recovered, he does not fail, notwithstanding the 
anxiety of friends, to appear upon the bench at the 
spring session of the County Court. In a letter dated 
Ipswich, May 19, 1794, he says: — 

" On the presumption that my best friend will be willing 
to hear from me, one line is offered to inform her that my 
kind uncle conveyed and drove for me in his phaeton to 
Major Perley's, — then I took the chair, and arrived about 
six o'clock. The limb which has given you so much trouble 
was not worried so as to occasion me any uneasiness that 
is worth mentioning; — had not worry of mind prevented, 
my ride would have been pleasant ; — the expression of your 
countenance at our parting gave me concern. I hope you 
have not suffered so much since as I have, and that you wiU 
always enjoy as much superior happiness as you are more 
deserving. Very affectionately yours, 

"Samuel Phillips." 

From his duties as judge, though still by no means 
strong again, he hurries to his post in the Senate, 
from which he sends the folio wins::: — 



*0' 



" June 18, 1794. — I am much indebted to my dear friend 
for her favor by Esquire Abbott, and am sorry you had 
such a puzzle in hunting for papers, especially as you met 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 131 

with so poor success ; however, I do n't wish you to give 
yourself further trouble on this head. As to the limb, it is 
gaining ; — • the crutches are still found very convenient, if not 
necessary. I believe I could walk with a cane, but a fear 
of meeting with the disaster which befell neighbor Town 
deters me. You will conjecture that I have doubts about 
seeing Andover this week : — it is true, I have ; for the 
court will probably rise next week, and business crowds at 
this time, as usual, when the session is approaching a close. 
" Yours, with sincere ajOfection, 

« S. Phillips." 

"June 26, 1794. — Mr. Abbott having hinted that there 
is some probability he shall leave town to-day, I must steal 
a moment in the hurry that attends the close of the session, 
to thank you for your last favor, which I do very sincerely ; 
and to tell you that I hope on Saturday once more to 
revisit my best friend ; for, unless something unforeseen pre- 
vents, the court will terminate their session to-morrow, if 
not this day. I still feel much concerned on the subject of 
help, but hope Mrs. Mack's arrival will afford you some 
relief. I am not a little rejoiced with the comfort you 
have in Mr. Newman. 

" Yours, with sincere affection, 

« S. Phillips." 

From this time the letters of Judge Phillips make 
frequent mention of his shattered health. The more 
sensible he became of his own infirmities, the greater 
was his solicitude to relieve her in every possible 
way ; and her letters were prized more highly than 



132 MEMOIR OF 

ever, as he could not so often visit her. Thus he 
writes from Boston : — 

" February 7, 1795. — The good things you sent me de- 
mand my gratitude. . . . Your advice to defer going to An- 
dover, comports with that of all my friends here, though it 
seems very strange indeed to tarry within twenty-three 
miles of my best friend, a whole session, without seeing 
her ; but you can hardly realize the difference of my feel- 
ings in regard to journeying, especially in the winter and 
on frozen ground, even between last winter and this. When 
the court will be up is quite uncertain ; I fancy at least 
that the effect of the theatre may be discerned, in an 
increased disinclination to labor and close application to 
business. . . . Pray thank Mr. Newman, presenting my re- 
gards, — will endeavor to write him as soon as I can. 
" Yours, with sincere affection, 

" S. Phillips." 

" February 10, 1795. — Very unexpectedly this morning, 
when I stepped into Mrs. Phillips's, was told that Mr. N. 
was in the other room ; finding that he brought a letter from 
your hand and had delivered it to Mr. Cooper, I went im- 
mediately in pursuit of it, and received a pleasure in the 
perusal of it, which amply rewarded me for leaving the 
company of good friends very abruptly. . . . Sammy will 
be obliged to lose his class if he attends French now : — 
English, Latin, and Greek, etc., seem enough for a child 
of his years to attend to at once : — but of this Mr. N. will 
say more to you. 

" Mrs. M. Phillips says it will be very agreeable to go up 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 133 

with me at Thanksgiving, if court, health, weather, and 

vor. 
" Your affectionate husband, S. P." 



travelling should favor, 



" February 7, 1797. — One line written during the debate 
of Senate, will be acceptable to my dear friend, if it only 
informs her that we arrived safe. . . . Just before the Sen- 
ate rose, Mr. Harding sent in your favor of this day, which 
was very grateful to me. . . . To-day Mr. March gave me 
a letter for Miss Greenleaf; — as to her going to Haverhill 
in the stage, it must not be ; whenever she chooses to go 
over, Mr. Moses or Cassius will wait on her. Some small 
token of remembrance I wish you could give her : would 
Doddridge's Rise and Progress be acceptable ? I hope you 
will be able to write a line by her to her mamma, expressive 
of the pleasure and comfort she has given us. 

" By the next opportunity you will write to Mrs. Phillips, 
if you can ; she feels so deeply interested in your happi- 
ness, I wish she may receive all the attention from you 
which you can find it convenient to give. Wishing you 
every support and comfort, which can result from the daily 
cultivation of all the Christian virtues, I am, with sincere 
affection, your unworthy S. Phillips." 

" February 13, 1797. — The sight of your letter this after- 
noon gave me much pleasure, and the perusal still more. 
I am glad to hear that Miss Greenleaf had so agreeable 
a conveyance to Haverhill — hope you gave the honest girl 
a letter for her mamma, expressive of our sense of her 
benevolence, and our gratification by her visit. The idea 
would be highly pleasing to her parents, and conveyed in 
your manner would be a feast to them. If you could not 

12 



lol MEMOIR OF 

write when she left you, won't you let a letter overtake 
her at Haverhill ? I had rather pay ten postages, than that 
our good friends should miss of the pleasure. As to Miss 
French I am quite willing she should be noticed, and wish 
you to inclose ten, fifteen, or twenty dollars to her father, 
with our regards ; subjoining those wishes which your pen 
will dictate better than I can prescribe." 

" February 17, 1797. — I thank you for your kind favor of 
the 13th, and am much gratified by the information that you 
have honest Timothy again with you. His fidelity is 
remarkable; indeed I don't recollect that I ever hired any 
person, on the farm or in the house, in whose fidelity I 
placed more confidence. 

" I had some conversation to-day with our son respecting 
his situation. It must be considered unfavorable to the 
object intended ; our intention was that he should be under 
the instruction of a gentleman most eminent in his pro- 
fession. Mr. Dexter was thought to be such an one ; but 
instead of having the advantage of Mr. Dexter's instruction, 
he is at Philadelphia. . . . On considering all circumstances 
he seemed convinced it was best to remove, and if so, the 
sooner the better. Your opinion, however, on this point is 
essential, for if it meets with your disapprobation I can't be 
willing to take measures to effect the change. If the proposi- 
tion should appear to you as it does to us, the next question 
is, what place is most advantageous ? — and here Mr. Reeve 
comes into view again. Mr. Bacon still speaks of him, and 
that frequently, as a man under whom more advantage is 
to be obtained than any other that he knows of. This is 
undeniable : that a man who makes the business of instruc- 
tion his object, and gives his attention wholly to that, is 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 135 

much to be preferred to one of the same abilities and ac- 
quirements whose attention is employed other ways, or 
divided among a variety of pursuits. ... In this case, as in 
all others, we have need to ask direction from the Foun- 
tain of wisdom, and may He graciously impart it unto us. 
" Thus prays your affectionate, 

" S. Phillips." 

" March 26, 1798. — I arrived at Page's about a quarter 
before seven. The travelling was much better than I had 
any idea of. Our son came in about three quarters of an 
hour after I arrived, and we have spent as agreeable an 
evening as the melancholy tidings he brought me would 
admit of. 

" Upon inquiry after our friends, he soon informed me 
that Mrs. Quincy was no more I^ Last night, she departed 
this transitory scene. She had been considered by her 
physician, some days past, to be in a critical situation ; on 
Saturday was pronounced by Dr. Danforth to be much better, 
and her friends were greatly encouraged ; but soon, alas ! 
was the prospect changed, and in a few hours was her ac- 
count closed. What an affecting lesson of the uncertainty 
of this world and all that it contains! — of the delusive 
nature of the brightest prospects ! Just arrived or arriving 
at the highest point of enjoyment, which she could ever 
expect or rationally desire, in the present life, and the irrevo- 
cable sentence is pronounced, ' time ' (with you) ' shall be 
no longer I ' How solemnly is the sacred admonition en- 
forced by such events, ' to rejoice as though we rejoiced not!' 
How much brighter has been her prospect for continuance 
in life than mine has been these several years ! And she is 

^ Mother of Hon. Josiah Quincy. 



136 MEMOIR OF 

suddenly separated from the dearest connections, and from 
one in whom she lately promised herself a large increase 
of enjoyment, and with as much reason, too, as the uncer- 
tainty of sublunary joys would admit of; - — while I am stUl 
spared, a wonder to myself, and a monument of the Divine 
forbearance and benignity I What an obligation to greater 
purity and fruitfulness than in time past I have exhibited ! 
What a warning this to cease from depending on any thing 
on this side of the grave ! 

" My uncle must be deeply affected with this shock. The 
rest of the family will feel it very deeply ; but his age and 
infirmities will render him more susceptible of the anguish. 
I think this is an hour to express sensibility for and sympa- 
thy with him. Is it too much to ask you to come down and 
join in paying our last respect to the memory of our friend, 
and expressing our condolence with the afflicted family ? 
I can't forget her attention, on similar occasions, when we 
were bereaved of father and mother. 

" Perhaps there is no occasion on which the attention of 
friends is more sensibly felt ; and few, very few indeed, are 
the friends to whom we are under so great obligations as to 
my uncle and aunt. I have, also, at this moment, fresh in 
my mind the uncommon sensibility my uncle expressed for 
the notice, when I attended the funeral of his consort. But, 
although I should be uncommonly gratified by your pres- 
ence, if it can be granted consistently with your welfare^ 1 
shall be as much grieved, if you indulge me at the expense 

of that Yours, sincerely, 

" S. Phillips." 

To all such communications, year after year, Madam 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 137 

Phillips, as we gather from his frequent acknowledg- 
ments, and from specimens of her letters which have 
been preserved, sent replies worthy of herself and 
of him ; and with these delightful interchanges of 
thought, sentiment, plans, and incidents, they relieved 
the tedium of their separations ; revealing more and 
more to each other in all the process, the rare virtues 
which composed their character. 

We have chosen to give these copious extracts, 
continuously, for the purpose of showing, in their 
own words, the tone of their domestic life, as it 
affected each in their circumstances. That two per- 
sons could well have shown more mutual respect or 
confidence, or have felt a more fresh and gladdening 
attachment to each other, will not, we are sure, be 
imagined by any one. And when we think of him 
as consuming his life so fast, amid his many cares, it 
is a relief to turn and see how by word and deed 
she unfailingly cheered him. 

It will be noticed that in all this correspondence, 
so free and frequent, there is a certain air of dignity, 
(of stateliness, we might be tempted to say, especially 
on his part,) which seems to check that familiarity 
for which we naturally look. He addresses her uni- 
formly as his best " friend," or his invaluable " part- 
ner," not as his " wife." He subscribes himself, ordi- 
narily, her sincere, affectionate, devoted friend, but 
seldom her husband. His suggestions and requests 

12* 



138 MEMOIR OF 

are, usually, in diffident and guarded terms ; and 
often there is a tone of modesty, bordering upon 
despondency, pervading his letters, which contrasts 
strongly with her exuberant vivacity and hopeful- 
ness; a result doubtless of his jaded and diseased 
state, rather than of any trait in his character. 

These guarded courtesies and deferences between 
them, however, serve to show us the type of their 
family in a strong light. It was eminently a family 
of refined manners, — refined even to punctiliousness 
in forms, as well as in its inner spirit. The children 
were trained to address them as their ^' honored papa^^ 
and ^^ honored mamma" Scholars, who were inmates 
of the family, could never enter or leave the room, 
in their presence, without a respectful recognition; 
a rule which she enforced as habitually in his absence 
as when he was at home. 

Yet they were the farthest possible from that affec- 
tation of gentility which shuns labor and vaunts itself 
in a ceremonious display. A simplicity that was almost 
severe, a steadfast frugahty, and a diligence that scarce- 
ly spared time enough for necessary rest or relaxation, 
marked their life ; and yet a most generous hospitality, 
and an open-handed charity to the poor, which shows 
that their frugality was not parsimony. 

Indeed, no house in all the region was more fre- 
quently resorted to than theirs by the needy, and 
none were more anxious than they, not only to supply 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 139 

the wants thus made known to them, but to search out 
and befriend the poor who were too modest or sen- 
sitive to ask for aid. Habits of quiet beneficence which 
reached to many a family around them, at various 
seasons in the year, are still remembered with bless- 
ings on their name. One of the most common feat- 
ures in their correspondence is the suggestion, on the 
part of one or the other, of some such kindness to be 
shown to those in whom they had become interested ; 
a book or a garment to be given, a sum of money to 
be sent, a quantity of wood, or flour, or vegetables to 
be left ; and the manyier of doing the favor is studied as 
carefully as the deed itself In these numberless little 
ways, their just ideas with regard to the use of prop- 
erty were constantly illustrated, as we shall hereafter 
see they were in other modes on a more extended 
scale. 

We cannot persuade ourselves to pass now to the 
notice of his domestic and social life in other aspects, 
without pausing to add a few words here to what has 
already been said of the character of Madam Phil- 
lips. In every relation, she more than justified his 
early and sagacious judgment of her rare worth. The 
virtues which had won his devoted regard, in spite of 
the disparity in their years, failed not, as we have 
seen, to win also his reluctant parents to her heart. 
Her children loved and revered her with a boundless 



140 .MEMOIR OF 

homao-e. The admirlno- terms in wliicli all wlio were 
ever members of her family, whether before or after 
her husband's decease, speak of her as a queen among 
the sex, testify to her commanding influence. The 
heartiness and intelligent appreciation with which she 
fostered the interests of learning, especially in con- 
nection with the plans of Judge Phillijjs for the Acade- 
my, or in continuation of them by founding the Theo- 
logical Seminary, have served to give a wide spread 
distinction to her name which is most richly deserved. 

The religious zeal which, as years glided away and 
trials multiplied, she increasingly evinced, became in 
the end her prominent characteristic, and endeared 
her to the good of every name. Much of her time, 
for the last ten years of her life, was spent in private 
devotional exercises, with a zest peculiar to herself. 
One little work, entitled " A Choice Drop of Honey 
from the Rock Christ," she carried daily in her pocket 
through this whole period, and when a moment of 
leisure occurred, she quickened her meditations by 
some line from it. The Contemplations and Letters 
of Dorney were so prized by her, that a large part of 
the entire volume was copied by her hand and sent to 
one and another of her friends. Whenever she met a 
striking sentence or paragraph from any religious 
work, she was in the habit of thus copying it, either 
to be retained for her own use, or to be sent to others. 
With these habits of religious reading and reflection, 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 141 

she cultivated, in a remarkable degree, also, the spirit 
of prayer; until communion with God, and cordial 
submission in all things, however dark, to his will, 
seemed to be as habitual as her breath. 

Yet every sensibility of her ardent nature remained 
keenly alive to the last. It was not callousness nor 
stoicism, but piety, which reconciled her to the sharp 
and varied discipline of life. In tears she would often 
say, with a radiant smile, " AJi, this trial is one of the all 
things tvhich shall tvork together for good ! " 

At her death, when the lips of her admiring friends 
were unsealed, and the heart spoke freely, the language 
of eulogy was exhausted in commemoration of so rare 
a combination of virtues ; the strain of every enco- 
mium reminding us of Robert Hall's remark to William 
Jay respecting a friend : " Sir, she has the manners of 
a court, and the piety of a convent." 

" Formed," said Professor Pearson,^ " by the dignity of her 
person, and the virtues of her mind, to move in the higher 
walks of life, and destined by Providence for extensive use- 
fulness, she commanded the esteem and affections of the 
man, whom, while memory lasts, we who knew him shall 
delight to honor. . . . Gratitude to Heaven, and justice to 
her, obhge us to say, that a very rare assemblage of virtuous 
qualities, improved by reading, matured by reflection, sanc- 

^ Funeral Discourse, p. 11. 



142 MEMOIR OF 

tified by grace, tried and brightened by afflictions, constituted 
her character. . . . Nearly fifty years a professed disciple of 
Christ, she was a constant, punctual, and devout attendant 
on the public institutions and ordinances of the Gospel. On 
the Sabbath, also, to all within it, her house was converted 
into a sanctuary. . . . To her honor^ it will be long said by 
strangers as well as by friends, that her house continued to 
be the same mansion of hospitality which it ever had been 
dm-ing the life of her noble consort. Of them both it 
may be said, that their hearts were not more united by 
mutual esteem and affection, than by acts of charity and 
munificence." 

One of the many public notices of her in the papers, 
embodying recollections of her some years subsequent 
to her death, gives the following portraiture : — 

" To her intimate acquaintance with the Faculty of Har- 
vard University from childhood, may, in some measure, be 
attributed her elegant style of conversation, which surpassed 
that of any one male or female in this country. She saw the 
subject under consideration in all its bearings, and clothed it 
in the most felicitous language. There was no redundancy, 
no stint, no singularity except that of superior refinement ; 
nothing to excite surprise in her conversation, but the most 
learned listened with profound admiration at her taste and 
skill in language. She was fond of her pen, and took de- 
light in keeping up an extensive correspondence with literary 
and religious persons. She wi'ote with great ease and rapid- 
ity, in a chirography at once plain as a printed page, and 
whose beauty was only exceeded by the thought it contained. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 143 

" She was married to Samuel Phillips of Andover, a young 
man at that period most zealously engaged in the cause of 
his country, anxious for its political prosperity, and for its 
advancement in learning, and he found a most admirable 
coadjutor in his wife. During the dark period of the Revo- 
lution, she sat up until midnight with the females of her 
household, to make garments for poor, destitute soldiers, and 
in scraping lint and cutting bandages for the hospitals. The 
sick in her neighborhood of all classes were inquired after, 
and every thing that could administer to their comfort was 
sent from her hospitable mansion. The Academy, founded 
by her husband's father and uncle, was in the immediate 
vicinity of her residence, and every pupil's health was the 
subject of her attention ; and to those who had come from 
a distance, and had no natural guardian near, she acted the 
part of a parent at all times. 

" Devoted to religion with more than a ' cloistered maid- 
en's zeal,' she had not a particle of bigotry in her disposition, 
and one might have lived with her for years without knowing 
her sentiments upon any particular point in divinity. . . . 
Her person was striking ; tall above most women, her mien 
was majestic without awkwardness from her height, her 
features were prominent, but softened by a mild expression, 
and her large blue eye was full of sweetness of temper, 
while it beamed with genius." 

As we read such enthusiastic eulogies, we are ready 
with Milton to exclaim : — 

" ! when meet now 
Such pairs, in love and mutual honor joined ? 
With goddess-like demeanor forth she went, 



144 MEMOIR OF 

Not unattended ; for on her, as Queen, 
A pomp of winning Graces waited still, 
And from about her shot darts of desire 
Into all eyes, to wish her still in sight." * 

Favored by Providence with such a wife, as the chief 
light of his home, Judge PhilUps needs to be seen with 
her now in his relations to their children. 

The early training of the elder son, in the troubled 
era of the Revolution, was the earnest care of both the 
parents, their skill making the best possible amends for 
the disadvant^ages of the times, and of their own unset- 
tled state as a family moving from house to house. 

This child was physically and mentally in the espe- 
cial likeness of his honored mother, and every year, 
with every form of culture under her hand, only added 
to the striking resemblance in manners, person, tem- 
perament, and aims. Both in childhood and later 
years, that ardor of spirit which characterized her, 
carried him along in his course with eager enthusiasm, 
which it was their study to check, as the chief source 
of danger to the character and prospects of a young 
man. Every thing was done by him heartily, gen- 
erously. 

After a careful preparation in the Academy for the 
University, he entered Harvard College in the autumn 
of 1791, pursued his studies with great assiduity 

^ Paradise Lost, Book VIII. 57-63. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 145 

through the course, and graduated in 1795 with dis- 
tinguished honor ; the salutatory oration in Latin 
being assigned to him, as it had been to his father 
before him. Many of the family letters while he was 
in College and afterwards, are worthy of being here 
cited, (omitting only such portions as relate to unim- 
portant or strictly private matters,) although we shall 
reserve a part of the correspondence between the 
father and son for another chapter in our narrative. 
We quote, nearly entire, first a letter of Judge Phillips, 
dated, — 

" Andover, Sabbath Evening, August 19, 1792. 

" My dear Son, — I have received yours of the 16th, and 
hope you got down safe and found all well, as you did not 
inform us to the contrary. The vacation has expired before 
I had performed that duty to you which I intended, and 
probably before you had executed what you had purposed, — 
a specimen this of what will be the case with most if not 
all future periods of your life. 

"Your term at College will expire before you are aware of 
it, and you will probably then find that you have not ac- 
quired all you designed, — life itself will soon be closed, 
while many of its schemes and plans will remain unac- 
complished, but dreadful beyond expression will it be for 
us, if we shall have neglected the great business of life — 
that of making our peace with God. At every stage of 
our existence here, this is too little thought of; at your 
time of life and in such a situation as you are, there is 
great danger that it will be criminally neglected, though in 

io 



146 MEMOIR OF 

all probability a more favorable opportunity will never after- 
ward offer for attending to it. It will be of great use to 
inquire of ourselves at the close of every day, how our im- 
provement of that day will appear at the great closing 
scene 

" After giving a due attention, in the first place, to this 
greatest of all duties, you will, I trust, give all the diligence 
that is consistent with health to the acquirement of useful 
knowledge. Your collegiate exercises will grow more 
numerous, or trying, or both, as you advance, and the ease 
with which you will go through those which are before you 
will depend much on the manner in which you perform 
present duty ; — any deficiency in the foundation will affect 
every part of the superstructure ; — besides, one neglect or 
omission "wUl lessen your reluctance to another, and a third 
will not be so painful as the second, till presently a habit 
may be formed which will not only bring you out a lean 
scholar, but prove an effectual bar to your usefulness and 
happiness in life. Obsta principiis, be your motto, when- 
ever feeling a propensity to neglect a duty or perform an 
action, or even when entering on a train of thinking, which, 
if formed into a habit, would injure your peace or reputation 
as a Christian, a scholar, or a gentleman. 

" I mentioned your health as necessary to be consulted ; — 
this may be preserved with very close application, if due 
regard be paid to exercise and temperance. The example 
of your friend Peele, gives full proof of this truth ; as to 
exercise, I used to practise it by walking in my chamber, 
especially when I had any thing to commit to memory. 
Sitting or standing in an erect posture, when at your desk 
or table, is of great importance ; — probably more scholars 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 147 

have injured their health by bending over a table or desk than 
in any other way. Walking, too, will be a favorable situa- 
tion, while recollecting what you have read or learned, and 
the business of recollecting or reviewing will be of great 
use to you, especially at the hour of scrutiny at those 
serious examinations. I was much pleased with the ac- 
count given of your performance at the last trial ; — I hope 
it will be your ambition, at least to maintain your ground, 
and to advance forward as far as you can ; — to acquit 
yourself with honor before so respectable a committee of the 
Board of Overseers and Corporation, and to be thus re- 
ported by them to the whole board, is not a small object ; 
but to be recorded in the library, there to stand for the 
inspection of the numerous gentlemen and ladies who visit 
that place, and are disposed to inform themselves on that 
subject, must be a powerful stimulus to exertion. 

" Mr. Pearson's exercises will be of great use to you ; — 
for in every sentence that you speak and write the knowledge 
of grammar is concerned, and to be able to write and speak 
with propriety, correctness, and elegance, is of great and 
daily use, and a rich accomplishment. Connected with this 
branch is that of mathematics, as it will assist you in think- 
ing clearly and methodically, both which are essentially 
necessary to good composition ; for you must have pertinent, 
clear, and connected ideas, before you will have any use for 
clothing for them- • • • Adieu, my son ; be wise and be happy. 
" So prays your affectionate parent, 

"Samuel Phillips." 

A letter from Madam Phillips, dated " February 18, 
1793," contains the following: — 



148 MEMOIR OP 

" Your letter, my dear son, afforded me much pleasure. 
You say you are alone ; I am pleased to find you can enjoy 
yourself without a chum ; but, can you forbid the dissipated 
to enter your apartment with so good a grace as if you had 
a companion ? — excuse the hint, my dear ; be assured every 
caution I give you I mean should promote your happiness ; 
while in the world we are all liable to be led astray, and 
need be constantly upon the watch lest our feet slip. I 
would have given much for so kind friends as you have to 
point out the dangers of the road I travelled ; — at your time 
of life I had a thousand difRculties to encounter which you 
know nothing of. I hope, my dear son, heaven will assist 
you to keep your heart with all diligence, since out of it 
are the issues of life, — yea, everlasting life. 

" I am much pleased with your present taste for reading; . . . 
believe me, every good maxim you store your mind with in 
youth will yield you satisfaction hereafter. May you be 
directed to the happiest mode of acquiring that learning 
which shall make you useful here, and be enabled to adopt 
and practise those virtues which shall secure you an interest 
in that blissful region where nothing is admitted which can 
cause a sigh." 

In June, of the same year, she writes : — 

" I am happy, my dear son, that it is in my power to spend 
a few moments with you this evening, and pleased at having 
so good an opportunity to forward some necessaries to you. 

" I hope, my dear son, if it be in the Divine plan for you 
to continue on earth, till and after you arrive at manhood, 
you will be steadily employing the interim for enriching your 
mind with the most valuable stores which will be of use to 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 149 

you, and indeed constitute the happiness of your life. 01 
never forget what your dear papa has a thousand times 
repeated, that '■youth is the seed-time of life!' ... I cannot 
express to you the pleasure it gives me to find you are desir- 
ous of walking in the right path. May the good Spirit lead 
your mind ever to make the wisest choice, strengthen you 
in the performance of your virtuous determinations, and con- 
tinually effect the most pleasing emotions ; surely I can have 
no higher delight than your happiness would bring. ' To 
be good is to be happy; angels are happier than mankind 
because they are better^ " 

At the College Exhibition, in September of this year, 
an English colloquy was assigned to young Phillips 
with two others of his class ; and Judge Phillips, in a 
letter soon after, dated September 9, 1793, writes: — 

" Yours of the 2d instant I received on the 7th, and was 
much pleased with the contents generally. I am much 
gratified, my dear child, by finding the honor which is done 
you in the late assignment for exhibition ; — I hope you 
will spare no reasonable pains to acquit yourself with honor 
to your instructors, your parents, and yourself. Do n't delay 
your preparations. To be ready in season will afford your 
mind great ease, and will give you opportunity to correct 
errors and make improvements. 

" You will have excellent friends in Messrs, Tappan, Pear- 
son, and Kirkland, to advise and assist you, though it is 
doubtful whether they will do more than correct ; and noth- 
ing will tend so much to free you from embarrassment in the 
delivery, as a confidence that you are master of your subject. 

13* 



150 MEMOIR OF 

Do n't forget to guard against precipiiancy ; due moderation 
is very graceful. As to entertaining your class t shall not 
hesitate at the expense, if it can be conducted in such a man- 
ner as won't give offence to the government. You will be 
careful not to exceed what has been customary, only hand- 
somely to conform to general practice. Those who come 
after may be fond of imitating your example. 

" The subject of your forensic is excellent, and you have the 
best side of the question ; I hope you will do it justice. You 
will naturally remark on the labor and risk of acquiring an 
estate, — the care in preserving and the anxiety about losing 
it, — the evil effects that affluence often produces on the 
mind, in nourishing pride and ambition, accompanied with 
insolence toward, and contempt of, the lower classes of so- 
ciety, — the shafts of envy that are often levelled against the 
possessor, though his character may be irreprdachable. Fur- 
ther; is not a state of mediocrity or competency the lot of 
the great bulk of mankind, — and has not the Father of the 
great family, who is unerring in wisdom and infinite in good- 
ness, assigned to the largest class of them, that condition 
which is most friendly to their happiness ? It is true, where 
affluence is improved to communicate happiness to others, it 
affords the highest enjoyment; but a disposition for this im- 
provement of wealth rarely accompanies the possessor of it, 
and where it docs, to determine on the proper objects of lib- 
erality, and to decide the quantum, requisite, and the best 
mode of granting it, is a work of care and labor to him who 
wishes to acquit himself with fidelity in his stewardship. 

" Where great wealth is accompanied with great corrup- 
tion of heart, which it often produces and still oftener in- 
creases, how melancholy are the effects to the possessor, — 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 151 

how distressing to those within its influence : — a striking in- 
stance we have in the famous, or rather infamous, Duke of 
Orleans, said to be the richest prince in Europe, and if the 
crimes laid to his charge are well founded, distinguished no 
less for his vices than he is for his wealth ; had this miserable 
man been blessed with a state of mediocrity, he might have 
lived an innocent life, and met a peaceful death. From a 
critical observation of human life, we shall find reason to 
subscribe to the wisdom of Agur's prayer, and supplicate 
Heaven only for a competency. I hope your own mind has 
suggested the above, or better arguments on the subject. 
Your mamma and brother join in affectionate salutations 
with your anxious parent. S. Phillips." 

A few days later lie reiterates some of the cautions 
in the preceding letter, respecting the pti'oposed enter- 
tainment : — 

" September 19, 1793. — My dear son, I think it of conse- 
quence that you should endeavor, by all prudent means, to 
prevent disorder and noise at the approaching interview of 
your class at your chamber, by securing the influence of the 
more influential and considerate for this purpose ; those who 
wish to preserve order, are furnished with an argument of 
weight, from the late conduct of the government, which you 
observe has been as towards ' young gentlemen.' Shall they 
not be encouraged to continue this line of conduct by the expe- 
rience of its advantag-es ? I had rather you should give your 
class two temperate ' treats,' (as they are called,) than one 
that should be attended with noise or disorder." 

This occasion appears to have passed off satisfacto- 



152 MEMOIR OF 

rily, and without any unusual excesses. But somewhat 
later in the season, the spirit of disorder became rife 
in the College, to which we find allusions in the follow- 
ing letters. 

In a long and most interesting communication, dated 
December 17, 1793, Madam Phillips closes with these 
earnest words : — 

" The troublesome scenes you have been witness to make 
me blush for human nature ; and we cannot but look up to 
that Divine power who superintends throughout the uni- 
verse, with peculiar gratitude, that while so many have fallen 
a sacrifice to the dominion of vile passions, you have been 
preserved. Boast not, my son. nor think your oWn strength 
has given you the advantage ; remember that is but weak- 
ness, without aid from on high ; therefore, bend low, let me 
conjure you, to that Divine power which has been protecting 
you when in danger of delusion from the path of virtue. 

" Now, my dear son, most resolutely determine to give 
yourself up, soul and body, with all their several important 
interests, to that God who made you, and has thus far pre- 
served you ; to him you owe every thing ; own him for your 
sovereign, and accept that invitation, founded on the highest 
benevolence to wretched man, to embrace him whom he has 
announced his well -beloved Son as the Saviour of the world, 
— give yourself up to this Almighty Saviour, — put your 
name to the covenant, and may God strengthen you to per- 
form all the requisites to prove your sincerity." 

A brief note from Judge Phillips, dated December 
31, 1793, suggests, in reference to the vacation: — 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 153 

" You will be very careful to leave every thing as safe as pos- 
sible The winter vacation is the time when the mis- 
chievous are most apt to bestir themselves, and it is possible 
that the reforming club may be more exposed than others. 
You may mention, as you have opportunity, that Mr. Abiel 
Abbot, of Wilton, has been written to by a friend, (not one 
of the electors,) to know whether he would accept the Tutor- 
ship if offered, — but he and his friends have great doubt on 
account of the treatment tutors have met with. It is of 
consequence that collegians should see how much they injure 
themselves in discouraging and depriving themselves of some 
of the best of men, by insulting those in office. I hope to see 
you with sound limbs and a pure mind in a healthful body." 

In the college honors for the junior exhibition, the 
succeeding year, an oration in Latin was assigned to 
Phillips, just after he had borne off one of the prizes in 
his class. At the exhibition, the next spring, 1795, he 
was honored with a mathematical exercise ; and on grad- 
uating, as already mentioned, he pronounced the Salu- 
tatory Oration. As this era drew near, gratified to the 
utmost with his deportment and proficiency, and with 
his honorable rank in his class, his parents were eager 
to give him such a Commencement, as the judge had 
sought for himself at the close of his college course. 

" I forgot," says his father, June 15, 1795, " in my hurry on 
Saturday, to ask you respecting your cloths for Commence- 
ment, what color you would choose I hope you have 

tried and ascertained what can be done about obtaining one 



154 MEMOIR OF 

or more upper chambers ; also the fourth chamber on the 
floor you have already secured three upon, if not, do n't delay 
this matter, and let me know your prospect. Let me know- 
also what you wish for in Boston, that I can procure you. 
If there must be a curtailing of your oration, I should like to 
have a copy of the whole in English, so as to form a better 
opinion what part to omit, unless you are well satisfied your- 
self on that head. You will devote yourself to the business 
of your oration this week, as much as you can. If you can't 
be secure from interruption at your chamber, you had better 
retire where nobody can find you ; the largest edition of 
Ainsworth may be useful." 

In arrano-ino; for the entertainment of his class, Mr. 
Phillips was not only thus liberally aided by his Either, 
but as generously also by his mother, many things 
being prepared by her own hand, and many by others 
under her eye at Andover, and sent to Cambridge 
for the joyful occasion. 

It may have been the foreshadowing of this parental 
zeal for his especial gratification at this juncture, as 
well as his uniform past experience of their kindnesses, 
which prompted him, in May of this year, to dwell 
upon " parental affection " as his theme at a class exer- 
cise, a portion of which we here quote : — 

" Omnis in Ascanio chari stat cura parentis." 

" Parental tenderness is a source of the most refined 
pleasures to the heart of sensibility. It arises from benevo- 
lence directed to its favorite objects. It is an instinctive 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 155 

tenderness impressed on the human mind by the hand of 
nature, and an emanation from the great fountain of benev- 
olence. It is that tie which holds together society and 
makes man the friend of man. The full strength of these 
impressions is only felt by that tender parent whose sub- 
lunary happiness or woe depends on the good or ill conduct 
of his favorite offspring. If, allured by the deceitful charms 
of vice, they follow in her train, the darts of anguish sink 
deep within his soul; but if they pass regardless by her 
tempting doors, and fly to that best retreat where modest 
virtue stands with open arms for their embrace, language 
cannot portray the ecstatic feelings of his heart. To such 
a parent, do not our youthful bosoms burn with desire to 
express their emotions of filial gratitude? Yes, while he 
retains the powers of sensibility we will strive to make his 
joys more exquisite by our obedience; and when impatient 
angels shall beckon for their long-wished companion, when 
time shall have poured her richest honors on his head, let 
ours be the grateful office to soften the pillow of declining 
age, until relentless death shall cut the knot, and Heaven 
reward its votary in the bosom of parental affection." 

The copy of his Salutatory, in English, which his 
father desired him to send, is preserved, as is also the 
original in Latin, together with various other com- 
positions of his in the same tongue, of which he was 
a great admirer, — and from this we extract a few para- 
graphs. After suitable addresses to the patriot, Sam- 
uel Adams, then Governor, and to President Willard, 
and others of the Faculty, he suddenly apostrophizes 



156 MEMOIR OF 

the University, as if the sjiirit of a past generation 
were glowing in his breast : — . 

" Ye sacred, venerable walls, thou school of ancient heroes, 
thou monument of the magnanimity of our ancestors, we bid 
you our last, solemn farewell I Thou hast been the guide, the 
delight of our youth, thou shalt have the support and the 
filial affection of our riper years. May thy sun continue to 
ascend till time itself shall die ! " 

To his class mates he says, in a strain worthy of 
his Revolutionary father : — 

" Let us duly appreciate the inheritance before us, and 
never forget the toils, the hazards and sufferings of those 
patriots and heroes by whom it was purchased ; despising a 
life of inglorious ease, let us be ever awake to preserve, and 
active to improve our glorious patrimony ; and, whatever be 
our station, tke happiness of the great whole be our object — 
fidelity^ our motto I " 

Then with a manly pride and exultation he lingers, 
in conclusion, upon the present and prospective glory 
of the nation : — 

" While other nations are doomed to distress in various 
forms, we hail America the favorite of Heaven. While 
the land and the ocean conspire to our happiness, the city 
and the country, with the various inhabitants of both, rejoice 
in their bounties. Behold the forest daily yielding to the 
hand of culture, and every part of om- land bearing marks 
of improvement. See colleges, and institutions for increas- 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 157 

ing the knowledge and happiness of mankind, multiplying 
and progressing. All these are guarded by constitutions and 
laws, founded on the principles of reason and the rights of 
man. These constitutions and laws are committed to guar- 
dians, whose ability and fidelity their country has proved. 
Behold at the head of them all that man, who is the orna- 
ment, the pride, the glory of his species. Almighty Parent, 
suffer us to implore but one blessing more : that Thou 
wouldst teach us the worth of thy mercies, and learn us to 
improve them, that they may continue as long as time shall 
endure I " 

Graduating from College with such high promise, 
Mr. Phillips became for a time an assistant teacher 
in the Academy at Andover, where he united with the 
church under the pastoral care of Rev. Mr, French, 
in April, 1796 ; the assiduous religious culture of his 
early life, and his own mature convictions, together 
with the influence of a severe affliction under which 
the family were then bowed down, conspiring to give 
a salutary spiritual bias to his feelings. But it had 
been his own and his parents' settled expectation, that 
he would devote himself to the legal profession. Ac- 
cordingly, arrangements were made for his entering 
upon his professional studies in the autumn of 1796, 
with the Hon. Samuel Dexter at Charlestown. 

A letter from his hand, dated March 22, 1797, when 

his parents, as we have seen, were consulting for his 

removal, will give us some idea of his position and 

promise at this period. We give the letter entire : — 

14 



158 MEMOIR OF 

" My Honored Father, — Nothing remarkable has hap- 
pened since you left Boston. Mr. Dexter returned Saturday 
night and is well ; his future destiny is uncertain. I had 
yesterday two hours agreeable conversation with him ; in the 
course of which he observed, to my surprise, that I came very 
near going to Holland as Secretary to Mr. Murray, the new 
Plenipotentiary. Mr. Dexter was good enough to represent 
me to Mr. Murray in such a light that had not General 

« 

Washington obliquely hinted at his former secretary, Mr. 
Dandridge, who is now out of business, I should have had 
the appointment. 

" 1 feel grateful to Mr. Dexter for his partiality to me in 
this instance, especially as his exertions in my favor were 
used without my request or even previous knowledge. I sus- 
pect that Mr. Murray and Mr. Dexter were the two candi- 
dates for the office. I have conversed with Mr. Hurd about 
our business, and he says we may do as much business as we 
please, with a handsome capital, on a safe foundation. I 
have been told he says that he wishes I would live in 
Charlestown ; I thank him for his politeness. If the weather 
be pleasant on Saturday I hope to visit Andover. Please, 
sir, to give my duty to my honored mamma. 

" From, honored sir, your dutiful son, 

"John Phillips." 

In consequence chiefly of the failure of his health 
in study, his long-cherished plans for professional life 
were soon after this interrupted and finally abandoned ; 
and he engaged in mercantile pursuits at Charlesto^^Ti, 
where he was married, December 22, 1798, to Miss 
Lydia Gorham, daughter of Hon. Nathaniel Gorham. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 159 

From this time, during his residence there, and after- 
wards at the paternal homestead in North Andover, 
the intercourse of the two famihes was so constant in 
person, that there was less occasion for correspondence, 
although we propose yet to introduce in another place 
some further letters which passed between them. 

To both his father and mother, this residence of 
their son, near them, so happily settled in life, was a 
source of rich enjoyment; and the filial veneration 
and love which he so admirably expresses for them in 
the preceding correspondence, it was his study and 
joy to manifest, while they lived to be gladdened by 
it. As a citizen here, he was eminently public-spirited, 
devoting a large portion of his time and fortune to 
one and another enterprise for the general good, with 
little regard for the effect of such a course ujDon his 
own interests. It was in this spirit, as well as in the 
love of Christian learning and in his filial devotion to 
his mother's wishes, that he joined with prompt mag- 
nanimity and zeal in her enterprise of founding a The- 
ological Institution here, and so connected his name 
with hers in the memory of all who shall ever read 
its history.^ 

^ Many of the manuscripts of Col. Phillips in our hands, espe- 
cially his orations delivered on various occasions, would tempt us to 
dwell more largely upon his literary history, as affording evidence of 
rare genius, and felicity of expression ; but this would draw us too 
far aside from our general aims in this memoir. He died at North 



160 MEMOIR OF 

But while, through his early years of promise up- 
ward to his full niauhood of houor, the gratified par- 
ents had so well done their duty to this son, and been 
so well rewarded, they had been called to a far differ- 
ent experience in connection with their younger son 
Samuel. 

Andover, September 10, 1820, aged 44, leaving a family of thirteen 
children, all of whom are yet living. 

To his widow, whose recent decease, June 3, 1856, has been al- 
ready mentioned, we have been under special obligations in these 
labors. Her delineation of incidents in Judge Phillips's life, and of 
traits in his character, with her portraiture of his person, his manner, 
his whole appearance, has contributed to give distinctness to our con- 
ceptions of him ; and the affectionate reverence which she has often 
expressed for him has served to bring down to us, over the wide 
chasm of years, with vivid freshness the quality as well as the 
strength of those impressions which he everywhere made. He was 
embalmed in her memory with all that was gladdening in the palm- 
iest days of her home, before the great shadow of her bereavement 
fell upon the old mansion, and hid from her sight the husband of her 
early and ardent love. 

The devoted filial reverence of her numerous family, whose train- 
ing devolved upon her so great a responsibility, at Col. Phillips's 
decease, is now her best eulogy. Her extraordinary tact and energy, 
evinced in directing their education and in the oversight of Avhatevcr 
pertained to the family, her quick and affecting sympathy, whenever 
any of them have been called to taste the bitter cup of affliction, 
together witli her unrivalled social qualities, and her genial benefi- 
cence of spirit toward all, guided by her religious habits, have not 
only enshrined her in the hearts of the family, but made her to oth- 
ers, of every class, an unfailing attraction in the old family centre to 
the last. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 161 

The junior of his brother by necarly six years, he 
knew nothing of the disquiets of the early family ex- 
periences. Though born in one of their transient resi- 
dences, his earliest recollections of home clustered 
about their spacious mansion-house, with its ample 
grounds and commanding site. He grew up amid a 
style and order of family life, now in the fiQl meridian 
of its salutary, ennobling refinement. His very nature 
too, physical and mental, was of the most exquisite 
mould. 

If he resembled either parent more than the other, 
his was the image of his calm, sedate, considerate father; 
yet in his deep and tender sensibility, the noble heart 
of his mother could be seen, reproducing its taste and 
tone in every winning form. Indeed, there was a pe- 
culiarly feminine grace and sweetness in his spirit, and 
in his manner, which gave a charm to his boyhood, 
without essentially marring it. 

Though often merry and eager in boyish sports, 
therefore, he would as often suddenly withdraw from 
these out-of-door scenes, and nestle fondly by his moth- 
er's side, to pour into her ear his accents of pity for 
the poor of whom he had become informed, or of sad- 
ness at the misconduct of some playmate that had 
come to his notice, adding often the exclamation, " ! 
mamma, how much better it is to be a good boy, than 
a naughty boy, is n't it ! " At any time, if she was at 
leisure to talk with him, he Avould hasten to converse 

14* ■ 



162 MEMOIR OF 

upon a variety of subjects with a solidity of views and 
a forecast far beyond his years, but especially upon 
plans of doing good, as his favorite theme. Such de- 
sires as he would express to make every one happy, 
such suggestions about denying himself, or taking upon 
himself the charge of some charity in order to relieve 
a needy one, such strains of pensive sentiment in re- 
gard to usefulness in his subsequent life, often sur- 
prised the listening mother's heart, and made it throb 
with strange emotion. If ever he lapsed into any 
childish error of conduct, it seemed so slight in com- 
parison with what is to be expected of every child, 
that none would have marked it ; yet he was quick to 
see it, and to confess it with ingenuous self-reproach. 
There was a considerable period when he usually slept 
with his teacher, Mr. Ne^vman ; and his gentle heart, 
on retiring for the night, would habitually first confess 
the faults of the day unasked, and then with a child's 
prayer sink to rest. 

His education was carefully planned and prosecuted, 
and his proficiency correspondingly great. At the 
Academy exhibition, when he was about thirteen years 
of age, Mr. Newman proposed his reciting upon the 
stage the lines of Selkirk, " I am monarch of all I 
survey," etc. ; after suitable private drilling, he ap- 
peared and rehearsed the verses w^ith so much grace, 
dignity, and pathos, that his father wept for very joy, 
which he had too much heart to repress. The child 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 1G3 



was, at this time, shooting rapidly up to the stature of 
manhood, and was in every trait so much a man in 
the type of the father's high ideal, that Judge Phillips 
weighed every new question respecting his education 
with especial care. 

Of all the long guarded relics in our hands, none 
appear to have been so often perused in the family, 
until worn almost to shreds, as a few simple letters 
from his pen, which we here give entire. 



" Boston, November 2, 1794. 

" Honored Mamma, — I have been trying for some time to 
form an acquaintance with the Muses, but they are afraid to 
come nigh me, as it were, for fear I should abuse them. On 
Saturday, I went with my honored aunt to Cambridge, 
and attended the funeral of our beloved Russell, — hope that 
instance of mortality will prove a happy lesson to me, and 
the occasion of my being also ready. I dined at Mr. Gan- 
net's, — just as I had dined I saw my brother, who informed 
me you was well, which news rejoiced the heart of him who 
is constantly thinking of you and that last farewell, which I 
was very sorry was not agreeable to my honored papa ; but 
hope I shall conduct in such manner as ever to merit the 
approbation of both my parents. 

" Please to give my respects to Mr. and Mrs. Newman, and 
duty to my papa. From your dutiful son, 

" S. Phillips." 

" Boston, November 5, 1795. 
" Honored Papa, — Yesterday afternoon I received the 
news that you should send a chaise ; I went to my uncle's 



164 MEMOIR OF 

immediately and delivered the message ; my aunt was ver 
glad because she was not ready. 

" Please to give my duty to my honored mamma, respects 
to Mr. and Mrs. Newman, love to brother, and please to re- 
ceive duty from him who feels the warmest affection towards 
his parents, who is sincerely sorry for all his missteps, and 
who hopes, by the assistance of Almighty God, that his con- 
duct will ever recommend him to his parents. 

From your dutiful son, S. Phillips." 

"Andoveh, January, 1796. 
" Honored Papa, — A week has elapsed, and I have not 
had the pleasure of hearing from you ; therefore I conclude 
it is my duty to remind you of a subject which has beqn 
under your consideration for some time, but through the 
multiplicity of your business may perhaps have at this time 
escaped your attention, — I mean Greek, sir. On deciding 
which subject, I suppose depends the part which I am to act 
on the theatre of life ; and therefore must be the result of 
cool deliberation, and not the hasty effusion of a moment. 
By means of its not being determined whether I was to go 
to College or not, you may naturally suppose I have not 
piirsued my studies with that eagerness I otherwise should 
have done ; imagining that the study of the dead languages 
would be of little or no use to me, unless I put them into 
execution. ' Riches,' says Dr. Enfield, ' instead of increas- 
ing our benevolence in proportion as they enlarge our oppor- 
tunities of doing it (as might reasonably be expected), how 
often do they swell the heart with pride, that unsocial and 
unfriendly passion, and minister to the flame of contention.' 
. . . ' These, however,' says he, ' are not the necessary con- 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 165 

sequences of wealth. In the heart which has been carefully 
cultivated by the hand of wisdom, it produceth far different 
effects, — it produceth the fruits of piety towards God, and 
good-will towards man.' . . . And, my honored papa, if for- 
tune prosper me, I hope I shall learn of the good old patriarch, 
Abraham, not to forget the God who giveth power to get 
wealth. Till I hear from you, I shall continue to spend my 
leisure time in writing, not to neglect my other studies. 
Please to give my duty to my uncle and aunts, and accept 
the same from your dutiful son. S. Phillips." 

Some expressions in this last letter, are supposed to 
refer to an inquiry, which in some previous commu- 
nication he had submitted to his father, whether it 
would not be best to appropriate the money which it 
would cost to give him a collegiate education to some 
other useful object, and let him turn to a life of busi- 
ness, as his sphere of usefulness. He is said to have 
written with great interest and artlessness, to convince 
his father that so much money would do more good 
if given to the poor or to some other such use, than 
if expended on him. 

But how soon and suddenly often are the plans of 
both parents and children dissipated by an all-wise 
Providence ! On the back of this verv letter, the 
date of which he had omitted, is the following memo- 
randum in the handwriting of Judge Phillips : — 

" Son Sam'l ; say Jan'y 25, '96, ab* studying Greek ; the 



166 MEMOIR OF 

last communication to his father, before he was seized with 
the fatal fever which deprived him of reason, and finished 
his temporal existence Feb'y 8, 1796." 

The stroke fell with stunning force upon every heart 
in the family. It was this great affliction to which we 
have alluded as having so salutary a religious effect 
upon the mind of his elder brother. 

When first attacked by the prevailing ej)idemic, 
which he was supposed to have caught at a funeral, 
and which, in the short space of three months, swept 
about twenty others into the grave, the fears of his 
parents were at once aroused, as he was soon quite 
disordered in mind, and for a week they were scarcely 
absent from him an hour ; in his aberrations, the 
loving ascendency of his teacher, Mr. Newman, could 
recall him, and win him to take his medicines, when 
he seemed to recognize no other voice. 

But there was no "power to retain the spirit" in 
that fair form. He was to be numbered evermore 
with the children that are too good for earth ; and, 
drowned in tears together, his parents bowed to the 
deep affliction, and laid him in their tomb. Those 
who saw them on that day of sorrow, will never 
forget how they trembled and sobbed, yet, in all 
their anguish of spirit, murmured not, but prayed for 
grace to drink their bitter cup. 

Let the voice of the sorrowing father, first break 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 167 

tlie silence in which we bow with them in this grief 
at his death. We extract a paragraph from a brief 
letter to his wife, dated Boston, February 17, 1796 : — 

" I feel anxious to hear of your health and state of mind, 
and of our son's. If it be your present apprehension that 
you was not thankful enough for the enjoyment of our dear 
departed son ; may we not be hereafter reminded that our 
grief for his loss produced a forgetfulness of the importance 
of remaining mercies ? These are surely very many and 
exceeding great, and the, general affectionate sympathy of 
friends ought by no means to be reckoned among the small- 
est of them." 

Two days later, he adds the following : — 

"Boston, February 19, 1796. 

" I am much obliged by your favor of yesterday, and the 
useful reflections which it contained ; — I have no desire that 
you should forget the dear object of our affections, which we 
have been lately called to surrender back to the God who 
lent him to us. It would be in vain, if I were to desire it, 
because it would be impossible ; and I believe it would be 
wrong to do it if we could. 

" Much advantage may be derived to ourselves, and at the 
same time honor may be done to religion, and the divine 
object of it, by a suitable remembrance of this precious loan 
OF Heaven, — a loan, I call it, because I think all our richest 
temporal comforts may be more properly considered in this 
light than as gifts. The Author of this mercy never relin- 
quished his right in it; we, from his birth, recognized this 



168 MEMOIR OF 

right, and took the first opportunity, in the presence of the 
congregation, as well as in the view of Heaven, to surrender 
back the lovely visitant to its Creator, acknowledging his 
perfect right to dispose of him as should seem best to him. 
We must be fully convinced that the best possible disposi- 
tion is now made of our dear child ; and should not this con- 
viction produce entire resignation? Should we be willing 
to oppose and disappoint the purpose of In/inUe Wisdom, if 
it was in our power? The very idea excites horror! 

" Let us, then, in humble, filial submission, acknowledge 
that the Supreme Ruler has done perfectly right, and entreat 
that we and others may learn those lessons of wisdom which 
this dispensation is designed to teach us. 

" Perhaps one of the first of these lessons is our entire, 
absolute, universal dependence on the Infinite Lord and 
proprietor of all ; we are extremely apt to consider the enjoy- 
ments we possess as our own, as having a complete right in 
them ; whereas, we are only tenants at pleasure ; and every 
day which the rightful owner protracts our possession of any 
of his favors, he increases our obligation. . . . 

" I am yours, with sincere affection, S. P." 

In a letter to his only surviving son, he says : — 

" Boston, February 24, 1 796. 
" My dear Son, — ... The dispensations of Providence 
seem plainly to admonish me, that it is time to abstract my 
attention more from the concerns of time, and to direct it to 
higher objects ; within a few years, I have followed to the 
gi'ave both my parents, a beloved uncle, who was as a father, 
and a very desirable child ; the last bereavement speaks an 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 169 

emphatic language to the afflicted parents and brother in par- 
ticular ; and it ought to be our daily study and prayer to 
learn the intention of Heaven in respect to us personally ; 
if every instance of mortality is a loud call to the living, as 
it undoubtedly is, what careful heed is to be given to the 
solemn messenger when he comes into our chamber to our 
bed and takes a part of ourselves ! It is proper on such an 
occasion to recollect what was amiable in the deceased, and 
to endeavor to transcribe into our lives whatever was con- 
formable to our divine Exemplar. I was pleased to find you 
employed in writing a character of your dear brother; and 
though the kindness of friends rendered your care unneces- 
sary for the particular purpose for which it was intended, 
yet I think a part of your time would be well employed in 
making a delineation of his character somewhat particular; 
it would afford much satisfaction to us and his particular 
friends in the review, and might be useful to youth who 
might be made acquainted with it ; for it would be difficult 
for us to name the youth whose character might with more 
propriety be held up as a model for imitation.^ 

^ The following paper, in the handwriting of Mi\ John Phillips, but 
without signature, is preserved in the family, and is doubtless the 
" character " which his father found him engaged in writing : — 

" Died, at Andover, February 8th, 1796, Samuel Phillips, Jr., 
-ffit. 14; the youngest son of the Hon. Samuel Phillips, Esq." 

" He ' remembered his Creator in the days of his youth ; ' while ten- 
derness and fihal gratitude marked every feature of his countenance ; 
his every action was dictated by benevolence. Seldom does the age 
of childhood exhibit the actions of a man ; but here the age of man- 
hood would have been adorned by the virtues of a child. 

" The young were ever happy in the embraces of his friendship ; 

15 



170 MEMOIR OF 

" It is natural for us, also, to inquire how far we discharged 
our duty to the object of our affections, who is separated 
from us ; and would to Heaven I had less cause for regret 
on my part than I have upon this review ! I desire, on this 
account, to humble myself in the presence of my Maker ; 
to implore his forgiveness, and to supplicate his grace to 
quicken me in the discharge of remaining duty. The time, 
my dear son, is short — how short, is known only to Omni- 
science I How greatly does it concern us to have our hearts 
formed to the love — the Supreme love — of infinite perfec- 
tion! — and what depravity must possess those hearts that are 
so averse to the love of such an object! What cause for 
humility ! What cause for earnest importunity for piu-ify- 
ing and renovating grace ! What will kingdoms avail with- 
out it! In that situation where I lately beheld my dear 
child, how trifling is every object compared with the favor 
of the Eternal Majesty op Heaven ! and this favor is to be 
obtained in the days of health and ease, rather than at any 
period ; it is hazardous in the extreme to depend on secuj-ing 
it at any other." 

As an 'illustration of "the general affectionate sym- 

tJie aged viewed with fond anticipation his conduct, which fairly 
warranted fature usefulness. His parents flattered themselves with 
hopes, founded upon the strength of his mind, and on the goodness 
of his heart. But alas ! the tender heart of youth must weep ; old 
age must shed a tear over his sleeping ashes ; and the well-founded 
hopes of an anxious father and a tender mother must be in a mo- 
ment blasted. Early his Heavenly Father called him to his bosom. 
He with joy obeyed, smiled duty to his earthly parents, then gave 
his heart to Heaven." 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 171 

pathy of friends," to which Judge Philhps refers, we 
will here insert a letter written now to the only son, 
by Professor Pearson, of Harvard College : — 

"Cambridge, 15th February, 1796. 

" My young friend, son of my friend, permit me to express 
on paper, what words failed me to utter when I last met you. 
Beheve me, my dear sir, my heart was wrung with anguish 
for you, as well as for your most excellent, most afflicted 
parents. Though urged on by an irresistible impulse, it was 
the first time I ever approached your papa's hospitable dome, 
but with lively emotions of pleasm*e. But on that sad, that 
mournful day, my fortitude forsook me, and a strange reluc- 
tance and dread of meeting my distressed friends had seized 
my mind. This I offer as an apology for my not being able 
to address you as I wishfed, on that melancholy occasion. Nor 
am I now able to express how much I feel for your situation. 
Suddenly bereaved of a beloved, an only brother, possessed 
of every quality that could render him dear and amiable, the 
wound without doubt appears incurable. Your high expecta- 
tions are instantly disappointed, and every purpose of your 
heart concerning him broken off. But you will remember 
that this is the good pleasure of your Father in heaven, who 
knows what is necessary and best for us, whose object is 
invariably the same, both when he gives and when he takes 
away. To unerring wisdom it has seemed good, that you 
should bear the yoke in your youth. God grant you every 
needed support, and by this dispensation teach you thus 
early to realize the danger of depending on any of the 
objects of time and sense ! 

" You are just entering, my dear young friend, upon the 



172 MEMOIR OP 

giddy theatre of the present life ; such a visitation is admi- 
rably adapted to curb our ambition, to moderate our desires, 
and to tarnish in our view the dazzling objects of this vain 
world. Should this be the happy consequence of this event ; 
should you be enabled hereby to adopt with sincerity the 
language of David, ' whom have I in heaven but thee, and 
there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee,' you 
would have reason to bless God for this early chastisement 
all the days of your life. Your dear brother, I trust, is 
happy. Prepare to meet, and enjoy him forever. Be on 
your guard against the snares of this delusive, enchanting 
world ; and daily seek the protection and blessing of heaven. 
Forget not to pray for your afflicted parents ; and be all that 
to them, that the best of parents can wish, or that affection- 
ate gratitude can dictate. Not that I suspect the goodness 
of your heart; for with unspeakable satisfaction have I 
frequently noticed your filial respect and anxiety; but 
because I feel every thing for your bereaved parents, that 
the sincerest friendship can suffer ; and because I have loved 
you from the moment of your birth to this instant. As a 
pledge of this, accept these hasty lines, with my best wishes 
for your real happiness in the present and the future life. 
I shall always be happy to see you, but especially at my 
own house ; let me request this pleasure soon, and believe 
me as ever, your affectionate and now your tenderly sympa- 
thetic friend and humble servant, E. Pearson. 
" Mr. John Phillips." 

In the filial tenderness of their first-born son and 
especially in his deep religious sympathy with them, 
the parents, in this crisis, had a rich solace ; but no 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 173 

balm, human or divine, could at once heal their deep 
wound ; nor did it ever, especially in her heart, fail to 
bleed afresh, at the mention of Samuel's name. She 
could never hear him alluded to, years afterwards, even 
to the last day of her own life, it is said, Avithout 
bursting into tears, though she loved still to talk, of 
him, and disciplined herself in all her sensibility to 
speak not only submissively but cheerfully. 

The room where he had studied and slept, was not 
allowed to be disturbed in the slightest particular for 
nearly fifteen years, until the removal of the family 
compelled it. His little slate, and writing-book, his 
pen, and sealingwax, his half-burned candle, his violin, 
of which he was very fond, his daily text-books in 
study, his child's bed, his clothing, every thing lay or 
hung precisely as he left it, a sacred memento ; and so 
he, though dead, spoke daily to their hearts, lingering 
in their memory and tinging all their habitual life. 

While thus sharing in the various experiences of his 
strictly domestic life, with his rare treasures in his wife 
and children. Judge Phillips and his family held a 
social position, in his town and in the country, of no 
less interest. It will be remembered how early he 
was the people's candidate for public offices and trusts, 
and with how much steadiness through all changes 
they showed their partiality for him, by their full votes 
year after year. This was the result of his personal 

15* 



174 MEMOIR OF 

popularity, not less than of the unlimited confidence 
which was reposed in his ability and integrity. Even 
the exasperated partisan strifes of the Federalists and 
anti-Federalists did not alienate from him the cordial 
good-will of his fellow-citizens, although he was inca- 
pable of trimming between the two parties, or of con- 
cealing, in the least degree, his own political prefer- 
ences. The popular feeling toward him, as a man and 
a friend, was always stronger than any merely politi- 
cal prejudice, throughout the length and breadth of 
the town. 

In the village around his mansion, especially, the 
willing deference paid to him was acknowledged with 
so much simplicity and grace of manner as to make 
him a universal favorite. On the Sabbath and other 
days of public concourse, as he passed to or from the 
church, no bow was made to him which he did not 
cordially return, and men have repeatedly told us that 
in these exchanges of village courtesy they have 
seen him with his hat off half of the time from the 
church door to his own. 

His more general connections, socially, with various 
classes of eminent individuals or families in the Com- 
monwealth, were in part a necessary consequence of his 
own civil labors in such a variety of stations, but still 
more of the attractiveness and weight of his charac- 
ter. Judges and senators, clergymen, and all men of 
letters, eminent merchants, and honored patriots, 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 175 

officers in the army, and distinguished strangers from 
other lands, received his highbred civihties without 
stint, and returned them without measure. When he 
was in the meridian of his long civil career, if any 
had a higher social position, no man in the State had 
a wider or more elect circle of honored and honorable 
personal friends. 

He was among the few whom Washington, in his 
Presidential tour, honored with a visit at his mansion 
in 1789. The personal acquaintance of Judge Phillips 
with this illustrious Father of his country, began, as 
we have already stated, in July, 1775, at Cambridge. 
During the sessions of the Provincial Congress, at 
Watertown, he had been repeatedly appointed on a 
committee to confer with the Commander-in-Chief, and 
from this period all his early impressions respecting 
this great man were intensified. With him, as with all 
others, the nearest intercourse with Washington only 
served to deepen his admiring reverence for him. At 
every turn in the fortunes of the war. Judge Phillips 
watched his consummate generalship with eager inter- 
est; and when upon the reconstruction of the form 
of government, Washington was elected to the Chief 
Magistracy by acclamation. Judge Phillips was filled 
with exulting confidence in the success of the great 
republican experiment. 

With a succession of greetings, which made his 



176 MEMOIR OF 

journey from Mount Vernon a triumphal march, 
Washington had repaired to New York, where he was 
inaugurated on the 30th of April. After thoroughly 
organizing the new government, and setting all its 
wheels in motion, he deemed it due to himself and the 
country to make a tour through the Eastern States in 
the autumn. His arrival at Boston was on Saturday, 
October 24th, mounted on a milk-white charger, and 
escorted by a long and brilUant military and civic pro- 
cession, which had met him on the Neck in Roxbury. 

" The number of people collected to see their beloved 
President," says the Centinel of October 31st, " it is almost 
impossible to compute. The streets were crowded, — 

' You would have thought the very windows moved, 
To see him as he passed ; so many young and old 
Through casements darting their desiring eyes.' " 

When he reached the Old State House, and stepped 
out upon the temporary balcony in view of the people, 
a select choir instantly sang an original Ode in several 
stanzas, of which the first was, — 

" Great Washington the hero comes, 
Each heart exulting hears the sound, 
Thousands to their Deliverer throng, 
And shout him welcome all around. 
Now in full chorus join the song. 
And shout aloud Great Washington." ' 

1 The streets through which Washington rode from the Neck were 
then called Orange, Newbury, Marlborough, and Cornhill, but were 
henceforth named collectively Washington street. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 177 

On the Sabbath he left his quarters, on the corner 
of Tremont and Court streets, where the store of 
Pierce now stands, only to attend divine worship both 
parts of the day in company with the Hon. James 
Bowdoin. 

On Tuesday he received formal complimentary ad- 
dresses from Governor Hancock, in the name of the 
Commonwealth, from President Willard on behalf of 
the University at Cambridge, and from the Society of 
the Cincinnati, to all of which he made replies ; and 
on Wednesday, he sat down to a public dinner with 
the elite of the city in Faneuil Hall. 

On Thursday morning Washington pursued his jour- 
ney to Salem, where he was met, escorted, addressed, 
and entertained with the same enthusiasm. An inci- 
dent here occurred which greatly pleased him. On 
being introduced to the selectmen, their chairman, a 
sturdy Quaker, " being covered, took him by the hand 
and said. Friend Washington, we are glad to see thee, 
and in behalf of the inhabitants, bid thee a hearty 
welcome." On his way from Boston to Salem, a corps 
of horse from Andover, under Captain Osgood, joined 
his escort at Lynn, consisting of upwards of fifty men, 
in red uniforms faced with green ; and this company, 
which had rallied at the instance of Judge Phillips, 
continued to escort the President on his tour as far 
as Portsmouth. 

When he left Salem on Friday, to please the citizens, 



178 MEMOIR OP 

he rode out on horseback, crossmg the Essex bridge, 
then recently erected between Salem and Beverly; 
and it is chronicled as an illustration of his practical 
inquisitiveness, that after passing the draw at the chan- 
nel, he dismounted and went back to examine carefully 
its mechanism, which had struck him as very ingenious. 
Proceeding through Beverly, he halted at IjDswich, and 
was duly welcomed by an address, to which he replied ; 
and in the afternoon he reached Newburjq^ort, where 
he was received with the same ceremonies. 

On Saturday he was welcomed to Portsmouth by 
Governor Sullivan, who had served under him as a 
General in the Revolution; the civic and military ar- 
ray here, at his reception, surpassing any thing that 
had yet been collected, except at Boston; and the 
enthusiasm of all classes being at the very highest 
pitch, as they had been hearing day after day of his 
progress in state from Boston eastward. 

Here, as at Boston, he sacredly observed the Sab- 
bath, the Rev. Mr. Ogden at Queen's Chapel in the 
morning, and Rev. Mr. Buckminster at the Congrega- 
tional church in the afternoon, having the illustrious 
guest for a hearer, and both, in the style of the times, 
" felicitating " their audience upon the great occasion 
of his visit. At Boston he had sat for his portrait to 
the artist Johnson, at the request of the selectmen, 
who designed the painting for Faneuil Hall. A rival 
Boston artist, GuUaher, followed in his train to Ports- 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 179 

mouth, and there the President did him the honor to 
sit to him also. 

But here despatches reached him which led him to 
cut short his tour, and hasten to the seat of govern- 
ment. On Wednesday, November 4th, he reached 
Haverhill, where he lodged for the night. Thursday 
morning he drove early to Andover and breakfasted 
at Deacon Isaac Abbott's tavern, in the house now 
owned by Hon. Amos Abbott and lately occupied 
by Caj)t. Edward West. Here, as he stood in front 
of the house, some of our most aged citizens remem- 
ber to have seen him. 

While tarrying here, he asked the little daughter 
of Deacon Abbott to mend his riding glove for him ; 
and when she had done it, took her upon his knee 
and gave her a kiss, which so elated Miss Priscilla, 
that she would not allow her face to be washed again 
for a week ! 

Leaving the inn now, the President, escorted by 
Judge Phillips, and many others, passed along by the 
Old South Church up what is now School street, to the 
mansion of his friend, in the south-east parlor of which 
he was entertained for half an hour or more by the 
Judge and Madam Phillips with their children and 
guests. The moment he left the house. Madam Phil- 
lips tied a piece of ribbon upon the chair which he 
had occupied during the interview, and there it re- 
mained ever afterwards until the day of his death, 
when she substituted for it a band of crape. 



180 MEMOIR OF 

Before leaving the village, General Washington sat 
a while upon his horse, on the common opposite the 
mansion-house, receiving the greetings of the crowd, 
and gratifying them by a full view of his majestic per- 
son ; and then, accompanied still by Judge Pliillips and 
the cavalcade which he had collected, the party passed 
down what is now Phillips street westward, and taking 
the old Wilmington road across the plain, drove to Lex- 
ington, where they dined. Here with Judge Phillips 
and a few others, General Washington went leisurely 
over the Revolutionary battle ground; and the General, 
among other things related, it is said, " with a degree 
of good-humor," an anecdote of Dr. Franklin. " The 
British," he said, " complained to Dr. Franklin of the 
ill usage their troops met at Lexington, by the Yan- 
kees getting behind stonewalls and firing at them ; 
— the Doctor replied, by asking them, ivheiher there 
were not ttvo sides to the wall ! " 

Parting from the Judge here, the General hastened 
onward in his return, lodging at Watertown that night ; 
the place of so many interesting reminiscences to them 
both ; the next night he was at Uxbridge, and on Sat- 
urday of the next week he reached New York. These 
reminiscences of the first President's tour, in connec- 
tion with his visit to Judge Phillips, prepare us to ap- 
preciate the feelings which both he and Madam Phil- 
lips so fully expressed, in letters which they exchanged 
at the death of Washington. We find a letter front 
his pen, in these words : — 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 181 

" Boston, January 9, 1800. 

" This day has been devoted by the town of Boston to 
commemorate the virtues of that eminent benefactor of his 
country, and distinguished ornament of his species, whose 
death we all deplore. The orders of procession and of per- 
formances, which will be herewith forwarded, will give you a 
better idea of the plan projected than I can communicate in 
other words; and it was executed to admiration. Were I to 
undertake to describe which of the performances was most 
excellent, the task would be difficult. The prayer by Dr. 
Eckley was not exceeded by any of the other exercises. The 
eulogium, by Judge Minot, was composed and spoken in a 
manner that did honor to himself and to the town, as well 
as justice to the occasion.^ The hymn, the ode, and the con- 
cluding lines will speak for themselves, and the music was 
equal to the compositions. 

" The whole commanded the undiverted, solemn attention 
of a crowded audience ; and the countenances of thousands 
expressed, more forcibly than language can describe, that un- 
feigned grief of heart, which is an higher encomium upon 
the virtues and services of our deceased Father than ten 
thousand eulogies. Happy will it be for us, if the people of 
the United States act consistently with themselves. But 
how absurd will they appear, if, after these high professions 
of sorrow, they should trample underfoot those important 
instructions of wisdom, which he gave to us with the solem- 
nity of a dying man. You will probably soon have an op- 

^ This eulogy may be found in a volume of " Eulogies and Ora- 
tions on the Life and Death of General George Washington," pub- 
lished in Boston in 1800, p. 19-29. 

16 



182 MEMOIR OF 

portunity of reading the eulogium ; and I wish I could ob- 
tain a copy of the prayer; they would afford you a pleasing 
and profitable repast." 

From a letter of hers, dated February 23, 1800, we 
select the following : — 

" Yesterday being fine, I attended the performance of 
those resolutions made by the town to meet at the North 
Parish, for the purpose of testifying sorrow for the removal 
of so great and good a man as General Washington from 
the world. 

" We had two excellent prayers by Messrs, Symmes and 
French, and an oration by Son, who behaved with dignified 
composure and respect for his subject and the numerous au- 
dience. I do n't pretend to judgment in composition, — have 
seen but few ; those seemed pleased, and 't is said, all were 
gratified. Mr. B. will be in town soon, and if opportunity 
favors, will be better able to give you the truth than I am. 
The music was very pleasing. I believe Son is very glad 
it is over, and I hope it may be of advantage to him, by giv- 
ing him a hint not to lay aside valuable books, and may lead 
him to attend still more to the improvement of his mind, as 
he must find it necessary^ that he may step forth on any pub- 
lic occasion, with confidence in his abilities to do justice to 
his subject, and thereby produce good and pleasing eft'ects to 
the world. 

" I am sorry you could not have been here, but suppose 
you was agreeably employed at the time at the church in 

Brattle street Here allow me to request you would 

be particularly careful on your return ; doubtless, as you have 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 18 



o 



been so long absent, this air and our accommodations may 
affect you disagreeably, therefore think it will be wise in you 
to fortify yourself as to clothing, and be seasonable in your 
return if possible ; you will excuse me, I am very loth you 
should suffer by giving us pleasure. 

" Mr. French has given us two good sermons to-day, on 
the subject of the loss of near friends, with some good direc- 
tions for our improvement under afflictions; and we have 
had an affecting scene in the baptism of the good doctor's 
babe, whom he has given the name of Samuel Moody} This 
will gratify you very much ; for this I mention it. I am 
rejoiced you are so well ; pray be careful ; certainly, you must 
have very strong inducements when you reflect how much 
pleasure you afford your friends, and what benefit your ser- 
vices are to the public. 

" Present my duty, if you please ; I am very glad friends 
enjoy so much as they do ; and pray when the times of suffer- 
ing come, support from an Almighty God and All-sufficient 
Saviour may be their portion." ^ ' 

These eager listenings, on the part of Madam Phil- 
lips, to every new suggestion for the comfort or profit 
of the afflicted, coupled with such significant cautions 
respecting his health, were not wholly retrospective. 
They had, it is true, gone down together often into the 
valley of the shadow of death, with departing friends 
of public fame, and with beloved ones from the circle 
of their family kindred; and the thought of death 

1 The name of Judge Pliillips's early instructor at Dummer 
Academy. 



184 MEMOIR OF JUDGE PHILLIPS. 

could never now come up without reproducing the fair 
image of that dear son for whom they were still griev- 
ing. But already the dim presentiment of another 
and yet greater sorrow in reserve for them, was at 
times flitting across their minds. 

Before we proceed to speak of this, however, we 
must return again, and trace the hfe of Judge Pliillips 
in other aspects, as connected with enterprises and 
characteristics Avhich distinguished him, even more than 
all we have yet mentioned, from his earliest manhood 
to his latest age. 



CHAPTER X. 

HIS INTEREST AND AGENCY IN THE CAUSE OF EDUCATION. 

It has been shown in a former chapter, with what 
zeal and abiUty Judge Philhps contributed, in every 
practicable way, to the great work of the Revolution, 
and how persistently, year after year, he discharged 
the various civic trusts committed to him. Yet, how- 
ever useful, or honored, or interested he was in such 
spheres, it was his sense of duty in obedience to the 
calls of Providence and in his desire to promote the 
public good, more than his natural taste, or any existr 
ing inclination, which riveted him to these various en- 
o-ao-ements. The times had made him a man of busi- 
ness; had associated him with powder and politics; 
had agitated him with public cares, and consumed him 
with public toils; but in all this he had shown how 
completely a far-sei^ing patriot scholar can sacrifice his 
predilections in grl.at public exigencies. Neither " Gen- 
eral Court life," as we have seen, nor life on the bench, 
was entirely congenial to him ; although at a time, and 
amid a generation of statesmen, which made any such 
station a high honor, especially for a young man. 

16 * (185) 



186 MEMOIR OF 

While faithful to all such trusts, therefore, and unri- 
valled for his industry and efficiency, he was continu- 
ally indulging other impulses, more akin to his native 
temperament and his purely intellectual and moral 
affinities. 

There was, as we have seen, a hereditary love of 
learning in the Phillips family. The father and one 
of the uncles of Judge Phillips had not only received 
a collegiate training, but on graduating had succes- 
sively taught the grammar-school, for a time, in his 
native village, while his revered grandfather was exert- 
ing his commanding influence over the schools in the 
south precinct of the town. Yet, when he came to fit 
for College, he had sought the advantages of the infant 
and unincorporated Academy at Byfield, as the best 
within his reach. Nothing had yet been devised in 
the town to meet the wants of its youth, in a course 
of liberal study. The town grammar-school was, how- 
ever, sustained with various success, year after year ; 
and on completing his college curriculum. Judge Phil- 
lips became at once conspicuous for the interest which 
he manifested in this school and the others throughout 
the town. His influence was constantly exerted to 
procure the best instructors, and to enlist the zeal of 
both the children and their parents in improving the 
standard of scholarship. He was himself a frequent 
visitor at the schools ; and, to the end of his life, with 
all his deep interest in other forms of education, he 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 187 

continued to watch over the common schools here, and 
to devise methods of improving them, with a soUcitude 
which could scarcely have been greater, if each one 
of them had been sustained at his own cost, as his per- 
sonal enterprise. 

Some years after his removal to the South Parish, 
Mr. William Foster proposed to open a select school for 
a limited number of young lads, most of whom were to 
be also members of his family. To this effort Judge 
Phillips gave the aid of his personal inspection, as well 
as his hearty recommendation, and for a j^eriod of many 
years, " Master Foster's school " was widely known.^ 

Nor was it in his own town merely, that his habitual 
zeal in the cause of education manifested itself In 
his address to the grand-jury, from which we have 
quoted, it will be remembered how sagaciously he 
watched for the welfare of the public schools in the 
county ; calling attention to the demands of the law, 
and enforcing legal obligation by the lessons of reason 
and experience. His office as senator, also, placed him 
for twenty years upon the Board of Overseers of Har- 
vard College, where his jDcrtinent addresses at the close 
of the class examinations, from time to time, are still 
remembered by his surviving friends. " It was a rare 
thing," says Dr. Eliot, "to find him absent from the 
Board of Overseers of the University. He was often 

^ Records of Phillips Academy, p. 117. 



188 MEMOIR OF 

on committees, and improved the opportimities to 
render essential services to the place of his educa- 
tion." ^ An outline of one of his addresses to the 
Senior Class at their final examination, is preserved. 

" We have received," he says, " much satisfaction in the 
examination which has now closed ; not only in the evidence 
given of your improvement in the various branches of study 
you have pursued, — evidence which at once bears honora- 
ble testimony of the ability and fidehty of your instructors, 
as well as of the docility and application of the pu]iil ; but 
especially from observing that order, regularity, and decorum, 
which have done credit to the first class of the first Univer- 
sity in the United States. 

" Your last examination in the ancient and respectable 
seat of science being closed, it may not be deemed improper 
for those who sustain the office, and ought to possess the 
affection of guardians, to make some expression of that affec- 
tion at this last opportunity of the kind they will have for it. 
After closing your collegiate life, it will be natm-al to make 
a solemn pause, and take a serious review of the scenes you 
have passed, and at the bar of your own breasts to decide 
impartially upon the several parts of your characters and 
conduct, so far as you can recollect them ; those of them 
which receive the honest approbation of cool, unprejudiced 
reason, will prove a fruitful source of enjoyment through 
life, and afford a powerful incentive to the practice of wisdom 
in future. 

" If, in the course of your scrutiny, you find occasions for 

1 Eliot's Biog. Die. p. 379, 380. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 189 

regret, (and you will be fortunate beyond the lot of other 
mortals if you do not,) it will be natural to place a double 
guard against those dispositions or habits which furnished 
these occasions, and to caution others against the errors 
which may have marred your comfprt. 

" You will soon enter upon the broad theatre of active 
life ; and fortunate, indeed, will you be, if you each select 
that part to act, which you are qualified to perform, with 
most advantage to the public, and reputation to yourselves. 

" The field for usefulness is immense ; the number of skil- 
ful, faithful laborers is small. Perhaps at no period has your 
country had larger claims on the abilities and virtue of its 
present citizens, and of those who will soon cooperate with 
or succeed them. Those who are the best husbands of time 
and opportunities for improvement, will never have occasion 
to complain of redundant qualifications for any important 
department ; multitudes have lamented their deficiency in 
them. 

" As the season for acquiring these qualifications is short, 
it is important that your attention should be mainly directed 
to those studies which are best adapted to qualify you for 
your intended profession ; and let your intended profession 
or pursuit be what it may, we feel ourselves authorized to 
say, that no book will so well recompense your study of it, 
as the Holy Scriptures ; nay, that a whole life spent in the 
closest researches to all other books, will leave you essentially 
wanting, if you neglect this treasury of Divine knowledge." 

In these labors connected with the University, Judge 
Phillips not only had opportunities for imparting such 
well-considered counsel to the students, but was kept 



190 MEMOIR OF 

in constant intercourse with the Faculty, and with a 
large circle of literary friends, of which Cambridge 
was the centre. It was here that " the American 
Academy of Arts and Sciences" originated in 1780, 
of which he was one of the members named in the 
Act of Incorporation, which was passed on the 4th of 
May, before the new Constitution of the State had been 
completed. Besides the President and Professors of 
Harvard College, and distinguished clergymen in Bos- 
ton and the vicinity, many of his associates in this 
society were the same eminent men with whom he 
had labored in the Constitutional Convention of that 
year, and in the Legislature during the previous five 
years.^ 

During the collegiate course of his son, in the year 
1793, the University conferred upon him the honorary 
degree of Doctor of Laws, as a just tribute to his vari- 
ous public services, and to his zeal in promoting the 
cause of learning through so many years, and in such 
a variety of forms ; an honor which, at that day, was 
enjoyed by but few among all the eminent Alumni 
of the College. 

It was not, however, by any such general services 
in connection with Harvard or elsewhere, that he 
earned a title, above others, to special consideration 
as a patron of learning, although in every such agency 

^ Acts and Laws of Massachusetts, 1780, Chap. XVI. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 191 

Iio was second to none. Another and more lasting 
work in the cause was also occupying him, as we have 
already intimated, from his early manhood, through 
his entire career. He was the projector and chief 
PATRON OF Phillips Academy. 

His plans and efforts to establish this Institution 
were the favorite work of his life. We have seen 
with what ardor he enlisted in the great Revolution- 
ary struggle ; how laboriously he discharged his vari- 
ous civic trusts ; how carefully he inspected his nu- 
merous private affairs ; with what watchfulness he 
sought the welfare of his family, and with how much 
interest he identified himself for the time with every 
other work, however transient, in which he engaged ; 
yet in all this he did not once forget his foster-child, 
the Academy; but bore it on his heart and in his 
hand, with an intensity of devotion to its interests 
greater than he ever manifested for any other object. 
His zeal here was like the life-long enthusiasm of an 
inventor, watching the machinery which he has con- 
structed, and meditating every possible improvement 
upon it ; or the glow of an artist in his studio, admir- 
ing and retouching the best productions of his creative 
mind. We should, therefore, do special injustice to 
him, and to our own aims in this Memoir, if we did not 
enter with some degree of minuteness into the history 
of his connection with so great a work. 



192 MEMOIR OF 

It will be remembered that when he graduated from 
College, it was with such distinction as gave the high- 
est promise of future eminence in professional life. 
His talents, scholarship, character, and social rank, all 
justified the highest aspirations. He was, moreover, 
an only son, the heir to ample estates, which pa- 
rental industry and frugality were still augmenting; 
and his childless uncle, Dr. John Phillips, at Exeter, 
had conceived a special fondness for him, and had 
intimated his intention of making him the chief heir 
to his large fortune also. If the prospect of wealth, 
enriched by the kindliest attachments, could have 
dazzled him, it was here. There was an affair of the 
heart, too, exerting its full influence over him; and 
because of this, the dark cloud of parental displeasure 
was hanging over his head, and reflecting its shadow 
into his heart ; while, to crown all, the liberties of 
his country were in extreme peril, and he was drawn 
irresistibly into the vortex of war. 

Yet it was in the very midst of influences within 
and without so alien from any new literary project, 
that he gradually developed the plan of establishing 
a Classical Academy in his native town ! and the 
mode in which he proposed to. execute the enterprise, 
was especially in conflict mtli these obstacles. His 
plan was first to persuade his exact" and frugal father, — 
now in a measure inclined to distrust his judgment, 
since the matrimonial misstep, as he considered it, — 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 193 

and then his partial uncle, to endow the school as its 
joint Founders ; thus diverting from himself, as their 
prospective heir, the property which they should con- 
sent to devote to this object. These proposed founders 
were men to appreciate his plan, but not to have origi- 
nated it; although in his modesty, he was inclined 
sometimes to ascribe this honor to his uncle, whose 
zeal in prosecuting the enterprise was especially con- 
spicuous. 

It was a great era in their lives, when they took 
his project into serious consideration. Trained to 
habits of rigid economy, their energy in business had 
hitherto expended itself chiefly in the work of accu- 
mulating and investing property successfully ; now the 
greater work of using, or rather of appropriating their 
property wisely, was to be decided. With what mis- 
givings or modifications they at first encouraged the 
enterprise, and finally committed themselves fully to 
it, we are unable to state ; but it is well ascertained, 
that, in their minds and his own, there were very 
material changes from the inception of the project to 
its completion ; especially in respect to the character 
and location of the contemplated School, if not as to 
its existence. Doubtless the solid judgment and en- 
larged experience of two such liberally educated men, 
])oth of whom had been teachers, helped to give some 
valuable features to the proposed effort ; but there is 
abundant evidence, that the originating process was 

17 



194 MEMOIR OF 

distinctively his ; and that in the ultimate embodying 
of their combined comisels, he had a leading agency 
to which they deferred. 

At first, as we learn from one of the documents in 
our hands, the proposed Institution was designed by 
the Founders to be rather a private establishment, 
mider his personal supervision, than a public High 
School. The entire endowment, in lands, buildings, 
and funds, was to be made over to him personally 
in trust, and to vest in him ; and the Founders with 
seven others, were to be Trustees of the School, under 
a Constitution in many important particulars like 
the one finally adopted; while he, in the language 
of the Indenture which was drawn between the parties, 
covenanted to " stand seized forever of the lands and 
monies aforesaid to and for the uses and purjDOses, and 
upon the trusts aforesaid, and for no other purpose 
whatsoever." 

The manuscript of this Indenture before us, in his 
hand, is a literary curiosity. It embodies, almost as 
fully as the subsequent Constitution of the Academy 
does, and to a large extent in the same phraseology, 
his long-pondered and thoroughly matured ideas of 
the character of his School, while the hundreds of 
changes in its diction, page after i:)age, from the first 
form of expression used, show that every sentence 
was most carefully elaborated, every word repeatedly 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 195 

weighed. The instrument is without date, but was 
written some time in 1777. 

While thus digesting his views and approximating 
his ideal of the projected Institution, the question of 
its location was agitated. Earnest and repeated efforts 
were made to obtain a suitable site for it in the North 
Parish, near his own and his father's residence. It was 
a wise point entirely settled in the plan of the found- 
ers to have ample grounds, even if they should not 
have at first an expensive building. But no negotia- 
tion could procure the locality which they were most 
anxious to have, — the present site of Dr. Kittridge's 
house, and adjacent grounds, — and with deep regret 
they were compelled to look elsewhere. 

In January, 1777, — a single year only subsequent to 
the first movement in the powder-mill enterprise, — 
the first purchase of lands for founding the Academy 
was made of Solomon Wardwell,^ in the South Parish ; 
in March another tract was bought, and in January, 
1778, still another, making together about one hun- 
dred and forty acres.^ Upon the tract included in the 
second piirchase, was the old dwelling, to which Judge 
Phillips first moved from the North Parish ; taking 
possession, so far as can be ascertained, very soon after 
the purchase, as it was his wish to be constantly able 

^ Father of the late Dr. Daniel Wardwell of Andover. 
^ A tract of 200 acres in New Hampshire was also added. 



196 MEMOIR OF 

to direct in person the <aiT<angements for the opening 
of the school.^ Soon after completing these purchases, 
all of which were made in his father's name and at his 
father's expense, he obtained from his uncle at Exeter 
a bond for the payment of his proposed share of the 
endowment m money. This bond is dated May 29, 
1777, and is in Judge Phillips's handwriting, together 
with the various indorsements of payments on it ; as, 
indeed, is nearly every other paper also connected with 
the whole transaction. 

An old joiner's shop, included in the first purchase, 
was immediately removed and fitted up as the first 
school-room for the Institution, standing on the corner 
of our present Main and Phillips streets, upon the south 
side of Mr. Farrar's door-yard. It was a rude build- 
ing, of one story, about thirty-five by twenty feet, done 
off temporarily in the plainest manner for the purpose, 
and not intended to accommodate more than thirty or 
forty scholars. Meanwhile the proposed constitution 
of the Academy was again and again retouched, until, 
as the time for opening the Institution drew near, the 
plan of vesting the whole directly in the Board of 
Trustees, rather than in Judge Phillips personally, was 
adopted ; and the deed of gift and constitution were 
modified in conformity wdth this view. 

There is one most important paragraph of consid- 

* See Appendix G. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 197 

erable length in the constitution as finally adopted, 
which appears in the draught of the Indenture already 
referred to, not as it was first written, but inserted on 
a separate leaf as an after-thought. It is the passage 
commencing with the words, " and whereas many 
of the students in this Seminary may be devoted to 
the sacred work of the Gospel ministry" — toward the 
end of the instrument, in which so much prominence 
is given to the anticipated religious character of the 
institution, and which embodies a summary of the doc- 
trines which were to be inculcated. This paragraph, 
a fac simile of which, as originally written, we here 
insert, not only gave emphasis to the entire religious 
tone of the constitution, but was the germ of a course 
of Theological study which was, at a later day, intro- 
duced into the Academy, and led, at last, to the found- 
ing of a separate Theological Department. 

Yet with all this slow growth, and these many revis- 
ions, the copy of the constitution, as engrossed and 
adopted at the founding of the school, shows an occa- 
sional erasure or interlineation, by the careful hand 
that had drawn it, in order to make its diction still 
more perfect. This document, written by Judge Phil- 
lips, with even more than his usual neatness, was pre- 
served as a keepsake, after his decease, by Madam 
Phillips, until, at her death, it was, by her request, de- 
posited in the Archives of the Institution. With these 
statements respecting it, we here insert it in full. 

17* 



198 MEMOIR OF 

CONSTITUTION OF PHILLIPS ACADEMY. 

" A short reflection upon the grand design of the great 
Parent of the Universe in the creation of mankind, and 
the improvements of which the mind is capable, both in 
knowledge and virtue, as well as upon the prevalence of igno- 
rance and vice, disorder and wickedness, and upon the direct 
tendency and certain issue of such a course of things, must 
occasion, in a thoughtful mind, an earnest solicitude to find 
the soiu'ce of these evils and their remedy ; and a small ac- 
quaintance with the qualities of young minds, — how suscep- 
tible and tenacious they are of impressions, evidences that 
youth is the important period, on the improvement or neglect 
of which depend the most important consequences to individ- 
uals themselves and the community. 

" A serious consideration of the premises, and an observa- 
tion of the growing neglect of youth, have excited in us a 
painful anxiety for the event, and determined us to make, in 
the following conveyance, a humble dedication to our Heav- 
enly Benefactor of the ability wherewith he hath blessed 
us, to lay the foundation of a public free School or Academy 
for the purpose of instructing youth, not only in English and 
Latin Grammar, Writing, Arithmetic, and those sciences, 
wherein they are commonly taught ; but more especially to 
learn them the great end and real business of living. 

" Earnestly wishing that this Institution may grow and 
flourish ; that the advantages of it may be extensive and 
lasting ; that its usefulness may be so manifest, as to lead the 
way to other establishments on the same principles ; and that 
it may finally prove an eminent means of advancing the in- 
terest of the great Redeemer, to His patronage and blessing 
we humbly commit it. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 199 

" Know all Men by these Presents, that we, Samuel 
Phillips of Andover in the County of Essex and State of 
Massachusetts Bay, Esquire, and John Phillips of Exeter in 
the County of Rockingham and State of New Hampshire, 
Esquire, for the causes and considerations, and for the uses 
and purposes, hereinafter expressed, have granted, and do by 
these presents grant unto the Hon. William Phillips, Esq., 
Oliver Wendell and John Lowell, Esquires, of Boston in the 
County of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts Bay, the Rev. 
Josiah Stearns of Epping in the County of Rockingham afore- 
said, Elias Smith of Middleton, William Symmes and Jon- 
athan French, Clerks, Messrs. Samuel Phillips, Jun., and Eli- 
phalet Pearson, Gentlemen, and Mr. Nehemiah Abbot, Yeo- 
man, all of Andover aforesaid, and to their heirs, all the Right, 
Title, and Interest, either of us have in certain parcels of land, 
hereafter mentioned, namely. 

" In three several pieces of land, situate in Andover afore- 
said ; the first of which contains about twelve acres, the sec- 
ond piece contains about twenty-eight acres, the third piece 
contains about thirty acres, being lately part of the estate of 
George Abbot, Esq., deceased, and conveyed by Capt. Joshua 
Holt, Administrator on said estate, to Samuel Phillips, Esq., 
aforesaid, March first, one thousand seven hundred and sev- 
enty-seven ; — likewise two other parcels of land in said 
Andover, situate near the two first-mentioned pieces, contain- 
ing about thirty-nine acres, conveyed by Solomon Wardwell 
to said Phillips, January twenty-fourth, one thousand seven 
hundred and seventy-seven, together with all the buildings 
on said lands ; — likewise two other pieces of woodland, sit- 
uate in said Andover, containing about thirty-two acres, con- 
veyed by Nehemiah Abbot to said Phillips, January twelfth, 



200 MEMOIR OF 

one thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight ; — likewise 
about two hundred acres of land in the town of Jaffrey in 
the county of Cheshire and State of New Hampshire, con- 
veyed by John Little to said Phillips, September fourth, one 
thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven. 

" And the said Samuel Phillips and John Phillips do also 
further give, assign, and set over unto the said William Phil- 
lips, Oliver Wendell, John Lowell, Josiah Stearns, William 
Symmes, Elias Smith, Jonathan French, Samuel Phillips, Jr., 
Eliphalet Pearson, and Nehemiah Abbot, and to their heirs, 
the sum of one thousand six hundred and fourteen pounds, to 
have and to hold the same land and the same sum of money 
to them and to their heirs, to the use and upon the trust, 
hereafter mentioned. 

" The lands shall be let out on proper terms, and the said 
sum of money put to interest on good security, or both im- 
proved in such way as shall be found on the whole most 
beneficial ; and the whole of the Rents, Profits, Issues, and 
Interest of said land, and of said sum of money, shall be for 
ever appropriated, laid out, and expended, for the support of 
a public free School, or Academy, in the south parish in the 
town of Andover aforesaid, in manner and form following. 

" The said Samuel Phillips and John Phillips shall, together 
with the before-named William Phillips, Oliver Wendell, 
John Lowell, Josiah Stearns, William Symmes, Elias Smith, 
Jonathan French, Samuel Pliillips, Jr., Eliphalet Pearson, 
and Nehemiah Abbot, be Trustees of said School ; and here- 
after the Master, for the time being, shall ever be one of the 
Trustees; a major part shall be laymen and respectable free- 
holders ; also a major part shall not consist of the inhabitants 
of the town where the Seminary is situate. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 201 

" The Trustees shall meet on the last Tuesday of April 
instant; and ever after, once in every year, on such day as 
they shall appoint ; also, upon emergencies, when called 
thereto, as hereafter directed ; and a major part of the Trus- 
tees shall, when regularly convened, be a quorum ; of which 
quorum a major part shall have power to transact the busi- 
ness of their trust, except in cases hereafter excepted ; and 
their first meeting shall be at the dwelling-house on the 
lands purchased of Captain Joshua Holt, where Samuel 
Phillips, Jr. now resides, at which shall be chosen the offi- 
cers of the Trust; a name shall be given to this Seminary 
and its principal Instructor ; and such other business relating 
to this Institution transacted, as the Trustees shall think 
proper. 

" There shall be chosen annually a President, Clerk, and 
Treasurer, as officers of the Trust, out of their own number, 
who shall continue in their respective offices till their places 
are supplied by a new election ; and, upon the decease of 
either of them, another shall be chosen in his room at the 
next meeting. The Master shall not be chosen President, 
and no member shall sustain the office of Clerk and Treasurer 
at the same time. 

" The President shall, in all cases, give his voice and vote 
in common with any other member ; and, whenever there 
shall be an equal division of the members on any question, it 
shall determine on that side, whereon the President shaU 
have given his vote ; and in his absence, at any meeting of 
the. Trustees, another shall be appointed, who shall be vested 
with the same power, during such absence ; — he shall call 
special meetings upon the application of any three of the 
Trustees, or upon the concurrence of any two of the Trus- 



202 MEMOIR OF 

tees in sentiment with him on the occasion of such meeting. 
And upon the decease of the President, a special meeting 
may be called by any three of the Trustees. All notifica- 
tions for special meetings shall express the business to be 
transacted, if convenient ; and be given at least one month 
previous to such meeting, if not incompatible with the wel- 
fare of the Seminary ; and, when a special meeting shall be 
called for the appointment of an Instructor, or to transact 
other business of material consequence, information shall be 
given by leaving a written notification at the house of each 
Trustee, or in such other way, as that the President, or mem- 
bers notifying, shall have good reason to believe that each 
member has received the notice. 

" The Clerk shall record all votes of the Trustees, insert- 
ing the names of those present at every meeting. He shall 
keep a fair record of every donation, with the name of each 
benefactor ; the purpose, to which it is appropriated, if ex- 
pressed ; and of all expenditures ; and a true copy of the 
whole shall be taken, and kept in the Seminary, to be open 
for the perusal of all men ; and, if he shall be absent at any 
meeting of the Trustees, another shall be appointed, to serve 
in his room, during such absence. 

" The Treasurer shall, previous to his receiving the interest 
of the Seminary into his hands, give bond for the faithful 
discharge of his office, in such sum as the Trustees shall 
direct, with sufiicient sureties, to the Trustees of the Sem- 
inary for the time being by name ; said bond to express the 
use both in the obligatory part and in the condition. He 
shall give duplicate receipts for all monies received, counter- 
signed by one of the Trustees ; one to the donor, the other 
to be lods^ed with such member as the Trustees shall from 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 20o 

time to time direct ; and the Trustees shall take such other 
measures as they shall judge requisite, to make the Treasurer 
accountable, and effectually to secure the interest of the 
Seminary. 

" The Trustees shall let or rent out the lands in such a 
manner, as they shall find on the whole most profitable. 
They may make sale of any kind of estate, make purchases, 
or improve the property of the Seminary in any way, which 
they judge will best serve its interest. 

" Upon the death, resignation, or removal of the Master, 
appointed by the said Samuel Phillips and John Phillips, the 
Trustees shall appoint another in his stead ; and ever after 
from time to time, as there shall happen any vacancy in this 
office, they shall supply it. 

"Whereas the success of this Institution much depends, 
under Providence, on a discreet appointment of the principal 
Instructor, and the human mind is liable to imperceptible 
bias ; it is therefore required, that when any candidate for 
election, as a principal Instructor, is so near akin to any 
member of the Trust, as a nephew or cousin, in determining 
that election, any member, to whom the candidate is so re- 
lated, shall not sit. 

" The Trustees are empowered to appoint such assistant 
or assistants in and for the service of the Seminary, as they 
shall judge will best promote its usefulness, and as may be 
duly encouraged. 

" No person shall be chosen, as a principal Instructor, un- 
less a professor of the Christian Religion, of exemplary 
manners, of good natural abilities and literary acquirements, 
of a good acquaintance with human nature, of a natural 
aptitude for instruction and government ; and, in the appoint- 



204 M E M I R F 

ment of any Instructor, regard shall be had to qualifications 
only, without preference of kindred or friend, place of birth, 
education, or residence. 

" The Trustees shall make a contract with each Master 
and Assistant, before their entrance upon office, as to salary ; 
of which there shall be no alteration but in their favor; 
which the said Trustees are empowered to make, as to them 
shall appear reasonable, and as the income of the Seminary 
will admit. 

" It shall be their duty, to inquire into the conduct of the 
Master and Assistant, or Assistants ; and, if they or either of 
them be found justly chargeable with such misconduct, neg- 
lect of duty, or incapacity, as the said Trustees shall judge 
renders them, or either of them, unfit to continue in office, 
they shall remove the Master or any Assistant, so chargeable. 

" The Trustees shall determine the qualifications, requisite 
to entitle youth to an admission into this Seminary. 

" As the welfare of the Seminary will be greatly promoted 
by its members being conversant with persons of good char- 
acter only ; no scholar may enjoy the privileges of this Insti- 
tution, who shall board in any family, which is not licensed 
by the Trustees. 

" And, in order to preserve this Seminary from the baneful 
influence of the incorrigibly vicious, the Trustees shall deter- 
mine, for what reasons a scholar shall be expelled, and the 
manner in which the sentence shall be administered. 

" The Trustees, at their annual meeting, shall visit the 
Seminary, and examine into the proficiency of tiie scholars ; 
examine and adjust all accounts relative to the Seminary ; 
and make any farther rules and orders which they find neces- 
sary, and not Jnconsistent with any rule that is or may be 
established by the Founders. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 205 

" They shall, as the funds will permit, without affecting 
the support of the Master or any assistant, have power to 
erect such buildings as they may think necessary ; and, at a 
convenient season, when of sufficient ability, shall erect a 
large, decent building, sufficient to accommodate at least 
fifty scholars with boarding, beside the master and his 
family ; unless it shall be the determination of a major part 
of the Trustees, that the true design of this Institution may 
be better promoted by the scholars boarding in private fami- 
lies, and by some other improvement of the interest of tht? 
Seminary. They shall, from time to time, order such repairs 
as they shall judge necessary. 

" Upon the death, resignation, or incapacity for the service, 
by reason of age or otherwise, of any of the Trustees, the re- 
maining Trustees shall supply the vacancy by a new election. 

" In settling the salary and perquisites of the Master, and in 
the consideration of every other question, in which the Master 
is particularly interested, he shall not sit. And, if any ques- 
tion shall come before the Trustees, wherein the town or 
parish, where the Seminary is situate, may be a party or par- 
ticularly interested, and any minister belonging to such town 
is a Trustee ; in the consideration of such question he shall 
not sit. 

" At the meetings of the Trustees, there shall be made 
decent, not extravagant, entertainment. Economy is to be 
ever viewed by the Trustees and Instructors in their respec- 
tive capacities, as an object worthy their particular recom- 
mendation. 

" The Master, when appointed, shall receive applications 
for the admission of scholars, and determine them agreeably 
to the. rules respecting the same. 

• 18 



206 MEMOIR OF 

" He shall conform himself to the Regulations established 
by the Founders and Trustees, and have power, from time to 
time, to make such other consistent Rules and Orders, as he 
shall fmd necessary for the internal management and regu- 
lation of the Seminary ; which Rules and Orders shall be 
subject to the examination, amendment, or discontinuance 
of the Trustees, at their discretion. 

" It shall be ever considered as the first and principal duty 
of the Master, to regulate the tempers, to enlarge the minds, 
and form the morals of the youth committed to his care. 

" There shall be taught in this Seminary the English, 
Latin, and Greek Languages, Writing, Arithmetic, Music, and 
the Art of Speaking ; also practical Geometry, Logic, and 
any other of the liberal arts and sciences, or languages, as 
opportunity and ability may hereafter admit, and as the 
Trustees shall direct. 

" The Master is to give special attention to the health of 
the scholars, and ever to urge the importance of a habit of 
industry. For these purposes it is to be a part of his duty, 
to encourage the scholars to perform some manual labor, such 
as gardening, or the like ; so far as it is consistent with clean- 
liness and the inclination of their parents ; and the fruit of 
their labor shall be applied, at the discretion of the Trustees, 
for procviring a Library, or in some other way increasing the 
usefulness of this Seminary. 

" But, above all, it is expected, that the Master's attention 
to the disposition of the minds and morals of the youth, un- 
der his charge, will exceed every other care ; well considering 
that, though goodness without knowledge (as it respects 
others) is weak and feeble ; yet knowledge without good- 
ness is dangerous ; and that both united, form the noblest 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 207 

character, and lay the surest foundation of usefulness to 
mankind. 

" It is therefore required, that he most attentively and vig- 
orously guard against the earliest irregularities ; that he fre- 
(juently delineate, in their natural colors, the deformity and 
odiousness of vice, and the beauty and amiableness of virtue ; 
that he spare no pains, to convince them of their numberless 
and indispensable obligations to abhor and avoid the former, 
and to love and practise the latter ; of the several great 
duties they owe to God, their country, their parents, their 
neighbor, and themselves ; that he critically and constantly 
observe the variety of their natural tempers, and solicitously 
endeavor to bring them under such discipline, as may tend 
most effectually to promote their own satisfaction and the 
happiness of others ; that he early inure them to contem- 
plate the several connections and various scenes, incident to 
human life ; furnishing such general maxims of conduct, as 
may best enable them to pass through all with ease, reputa- 
tion, and comfort. 

" And whereas many of the Students in this Seminary may 
be devoted to the sacred work of the gospel ministry ; that 
the true and fundamental principles of the Christian Religion 
may be cultivated, established, and perpetuated in the Chris- 
tian Church, so far as this Institution may have influence ; it 
shall be the duty of the Master, as the age and capacities of 
the Scholars will admit, not only to instruct and establish 
them in the truth of Christianity ; but also early and dili- 
gently to inculcate upon them the great and important Scrip- 
ture doctrines of the existence of One true God, the Father.^ 
Son, and Holy Ghost; of the fall of man, the depravity of 
human nature ; the necessity of an atonement, and of our 



208 MEMOIR OF 

being renewed in the spirit of our minds ; the doctrines of 
repentance toward God and of faith toward our Lord Jesus 
Christ ; of sanctification by the Holy Spirit, and of justifi- 
cation by the free grace of God, through the redemption, 
that is in Jesus Christ, (in opposition to the erroneous and 
dangerous doctrine of justification by our own merit, or a 
dependence on self-righteousness,) together with the other 
important doctrines and duties of our Holy Christian Re- 
ligion. 

" And, whereas the most wholesome precepts, without fre- 
quent repetition, may prove ineffectual ; it is further required 
of the Master, that he not only m-ge and re-urge ; but continue 
from day to day, to impress these instructions. 

" And let him ever remember that the design of this Insti- 
tution can never be answered, without his persevering, inces- 
sant attention to this duty. 

'• Protestants only shall ever be concerned in the Trust or 
Instruction of this Seminary. 

" The election of all Officers shall be by ballot only. 

" This Seminary shall be ever equally open to Youth, of 
requisite qualifications, from every quarter; provided, that 
none be admitted, till in common parlance they can read 
English well, excepting such particular numbers, as the Trus- 
tees may hereafter license. 

" And in order to prevent the smallest perversion of the 
true intent of this Foundation, it is again declared, that the 
first and principal object of this Institution is the promotion 
of true Piety and Virtue ; the second, instruction in the Eng- 
lish, Latin, and Greek Languages, together with Writing, 
Arithmetic, Music, and the Art of Speaking ; the thii-d, practi- 
cal Geometry, Logic, and Geography ; and the fourth, such 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 209 

other of the liberal Arts and Sciences or Languages, as oppor- 
tunity and ability may hereafter admit, and as the Trustees 
shall direct. And these Regulations shall be read by the 
President, at the annual meetings of the Trustees. 

" Whereas, in the course of human events, the period may 
arrive, when the prosperity of this Institution may be pro- 
moted by removing it from the place where it is founded ; if 
it shall hereafter be judged, upon mature and impartial con- 
sideration of all circumstances, by two thirds of the Trustees, 
that for good and substantial reasons, which at this time do 
not exist, the true design, herein expressed, will be better 
served, by removing the Seminary to some other place ; it 
shall be in their power to remove it accordingly ; provided, 
that if this event shall ever take place, there shall be fairly 
and truly entered on the Clerk's records all the reasons, 
whereon the determination was grounded ; and the same 
shall be subscribed by the members, who effected the deter- 
mination ; but unless the good of mankind shall manifestly 
require it, this Seminary shall never be removed fiPom the 
South Parish in the town of Andover. 

" And we hereby reserve to ourselves, during any part of 
our natural lives, the full right, jointly to make any special 
Rules for the perpetual Government of this Institution ; which 
shall be equally binding on those, Avhom they may concern, 
with any clause in these Regulations ; provided, no such 
Rule shall be subversive of the true design herein expressed. 
We also reserve to ourselves a right, jointly to appoint one 
person, to succeed in the Trust after our decease or resigna- 
tion ; to whom shall be transferred the same right of appoint- 
ment, and to his Successors in the said Trust for ever. 

" In witness whereof we, the Subscribers, have hereunto set 

18=^ 



210 MEMOIR OF 

our hands and seals this twenty-first day of April, in the year 
of our Lord one thousand seven hiindred and seventy-eight. 

«' Signed, 8ea^ed,^and delivered SAMUEL PhILLIPS (S.) 

"John Abbot, 

" Hannah Holt. John Phillips (S.) " 

It is now nearly eighty years since this constitution 
was written, yet scarce a word in it is obsolete ; and 
there is not a paragraph nor a phrase which it would 
be desirable to alter. The purity, the ease, the perspi- 
cuity and precision of the style, and the sagacious drift 
and scope of the plan here embodied, have been the 
admiration of all who have ever been concerned in the 
oversight or administration of the Academy.^ The 
Institution has continued to be, in all its distinctive 
features, precisely what its revered projector intended 
it to be, with no change but expansion, and this such 
as he anticipated might ensue. To appreciate the 
honor due to him here, it should be noticed that, in 
this case, as in the form of civil government which 
he was helping to construct, there was nothing to copy, 
but every thing to originate. No such school was then 
known ; no such constitution had ever been seen. He 
was planning a model classical school, for boys only, 

^ One who was for forty years a trustee of the Institution lias 
often been heard to remark, that as the constitution was read year 
after year at the meetings of the Board, its language seemed to him 
more hke inspiration than any thing else, except the Bible ! 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 211 

which should be in the highest sense free, — not as 
the word is now used, and as some still understand it, 
free from all charge for tuition or other costs ; for his 
own action immediately after the opening of the school 
disproves this, — but open to all, and furnishing ample 
facilities for a wide range of study, especially in the 
first years of a liberal education ; not a sectarian 
school, and not a mere scientific school ; but a classical 
and Christian gymnasium, in close alliance with the 
University and the learned professions. It was his 
distinct aim and hope, so to shape this Academy, that 
it would soon lead to others of a similar character, as 
it in fact did. He was thus to be the parent not of 
Phillips Academy alone, but of its many imitators and 
co-workers in the cause of learning elsewhere. 

With such antecedents, the formal act of founding 
the Academy took place, as will be seen from the date 
of the deed of gift, on the 21st of April, 1778. The 
first meeting of the trustees, as prescribed by the con- 
stitution, was held on Tuesday, April 28, at which the 
organization of the Board took place, and the name of 
Phillips School was given to the institution. The num- 
ber of scholars to be admitted was limited to thirty, 
preference being given to those who were " to be in- 
structed in the learned languages," and no others to be 
received unless the full number should be incomplete 
for a month. Mr. Eliphalet Pearson, one of the trus- 
tees, who was then teacher of the town grammar- 



212 MEMOIR OF 

scliool, and had been freely consulted in the whole 
process of drafting the constitution, was elected Pre- 
ceptor ; and it was decided that there should be two 
vacations a year, one in April, the other in October, 
of three weeks each. 

At this very meeting, the war was also before their 
minds ; for a vote was passed to apply to the General 
Court for an appropriation of books to the school, 
from the libraries " of the absentees ; " referring to per- 
sons who had withdrawn from the country and joined 
the British in the contest. There was another formal- 
ity, also, connected with the organization. The Kev. 
Mr. French preached a sermon upon the occasion, the 
manuscript of which is still preserved by his son. On 
the morning of Thursday, April 30, the school was 
opened in due form, with an attendance of thirteen 
pupils, and in less than a month the full complement of 
tJtirtf/ was made up. 

In all this organic period. Judge Phillips was the mas- 
ter-spirit of the enterprise, as he had been in the vari- 
ous preliminary steps. The meetings of the Board 
were at his house ; he suggested their course of action, 
and was made chairman of most of their committees. 
He began at once to keep their records, although 
another was nominally clerk ; and with these, a com- 
plete catalogue of all the pupils admitted, with their 
place of residence, age, etc. etc. : he acted in like man- 
ner as treasurer, taking upon himself the labor, while 
another person held the seal of the office. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 21 



o 



We have before alluded to the historic interest with 
which the old house, in which he now resided, became 
in this way invested. It has the honor not only of 
having been his residence for a period, but of being 
the birthplace of the Academy. While he lived in it, 
the meetings of the trustees continued to be held here, 
as the first had been, in the west room ; now used as 
a dining-room by the Academic Club. When he re- 
moved from it, it became the residence of the succes- 
sive preceptors of the school, Mr. Pearson, Mr. Pember- 
ton, and Mr. Newman. When the Theological Sem- 
inary was founded, this house was occupied by Dr. 
Woods ; and here, in the same room, his first course of 
Lectures in Divinity was delivered. 

The only other buildings at this time, on all the ter- 
ritory now known as "Andover Hill," were the new 
academy on the corner of the same street, and two old 
dwelling-houses, belonging to the estates of Stephen 
Abbott and Samuel Abbott, deceased; one near the 
site of the Abbott Professor's house,^ and the other a 
few rods south of the printing house. We give, in 
this connection, the best representation which we have 
been able to sketch of " the Hill," as it then ap- 
peared. 

The very first term of the school not only con- 
firmed, but enlarged the views of its indefatigable pro- 

^ Lately occupied by Dr. Woods. 



214 MEMOIR OF 

jector respecting it. Such numbers pressed for ad- 
mission to its privileges, that the opening arrangements 
were soon materially modified ; and at the close of the 
term a charge was, by vote of the trustees, at his sug- 
gestion, made upon each scholar, to pay the salary of 
an assistant, and other necessary expenses incident to 
an enlargement of the plan : ^ a practice which was 
continued, with various modifications, tlirough his life- 
time ; and is still, as then, found necessary, for the 
want of more ample endowments. 

With the rapid expansion of the school, another 
question began now to occupy his thoughts, — the 
question of obtaining for it an act of incorporation ; 
and in October of this year a committee was appointed 
to apply, at such time as they should judge best, to 
the General Court for such an act. In connection with 
this application, it was also voted to change the name 
of the Institution from Phillips School to Phillips Acad- 
emy ; under which title it was incorporated on the 4th 
of October, 1780. 

There are some circumstances connected with this 
Act which deserve to be mentioned. By it, Phillips 
, Academy had the distinction of being the fird incor- 
porated academy in the Commonwealth. The Act had 
to be drafted without any aids from precedent. On 
examining the original paper as engrossed, now in the 

^ Academy Records, p. 30, etc. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 215 

archives of the State, we find that the preamble is in 
the handwriting of Judge PhiUips, and a portion of 
the first enacting clause ; the remainder of the docu- 
ment appears to have been copied by a different hand ; 
but that the composition of the whole was his work 
there can be no question.^ In a letter to his uncle at 
Exeter, dated Andover, September 6, 1780, speaking 
of various hindrances to his being at Dartmouth Col- 
lege, of which he had been chosen a trustee, at the 
ensuing commencement, as Dr. Phillips desired, he 
says : — 

" I am under a still further difficulty on account of an act 
of incorporation for Phillips School, which I am solicitous to 
get through this session, by reason of Mr. Lowell's being a 
member of the General Assembly, as well as for other 
reasons ; — this school is in a flourishing state, in the estima- 
tion of those who have children here ; and I trust you wiU 
give yourself opportunity, this fall, to acquaint yourself in 
person with the situation of it." 

The Act, thus originated, was the last legislative act 
of the General Court, under the old regime, the new 
State Government, under the Constitution which Judge 
Phillips had assisted to frame, being organized early in 
the November following, thus reminding us again of 
the Revolutionary scenes in the midst of which the 
Institution was evolved : and, as if to make the recol- 
lection still more vivid, the act next preceding this 

^ See Appendix, H. 



216 MEMOIR OF 

related to a powder-house in Boston, and the newspa- 
pers of the very next day contained the startling intel- 
ligence of Arnold's treason ! Nor can we omit to 
notice here, in passing, the fact that the ever memora- 
able hard ivintcr had ushered in this year ; when for 
forty days from the first of January the cold was most 
intense ; and the no less memorable dark day had oc- 
curred in the spring, on the 19th of May.^ At the 

^ Rev. Mr. French, one of the trustees, gives the following ac- 
count of this phenomenon : " The morning was ushei'ed in with a 
very dark cloud hanging over the west and north-west, attended 
with thunder. It settled into the north. The wind at south-west, 
brought over a number of clouds from that quarter. The darkness 
began about nine, and at twelve o'clock it was as dark as evening. 
Candles were lighted ; domestic fowls repaired to their roosts ; frogs 
peeped ; night birds appeared ; cattle repaired to their barns. Olj- 
jects could be discerned at a small distance only. The clouds put on 
a strange kind of brassy, copper color, and every thing conspired to 
make the appearance exceedingly gloomy. 

" It abated after twelve, and after three in the afternoon the ap- 
pearance was no other than a dark, cloudy day. Though the moon 
fulled the day before, and was at a considerable height, in the even- 
ing the darkness returned, and soon became total, as if there had 
been no such thing as vision, and continued till about midnight. 

" The darkness of the day and evening lasted about fourteen hours. 
Concern and terror seemed to sit on the countenances of the people. 

" The darkness extended over all the New England States ; west- 
ward, it reached to Albany ; at the southward, it was observed all 
along the sea-coast ; and to the north, as far as the settlements extend, 
though not in all places equally dark." — ^MoW's History of Andover^ 
p. 189, 190. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 217 

date of its incorporation, the academy had received in 
all ninety seven scholars, and the number then in at- 
tendance was about sixtv. 

An exceedingly interesting and important aspect of 
this academy enterprise now began to present itself. 
In the constitution the projector of the school repre- 
sents it as one of the earnest wishes of the founders, 
" that its usefulness may he so manifest, as to lead the way to 
other estahlishments on the same principlesr In this respect, 
as well as in others, its history outran his prophecy. 
It had been only two or three years in operation, and 
was but just formally incorporated, when his uncle at 
Exeter began to confer with him upon the subject of 
founding another academy like it, at that place. 

It has been said that Judge Phillips was the prime 
mover in this project also ; but we are inclined rather, 
on the ground of various evidences in the case, to 
ascribe the honor to his uncle. That Judge Phillips 
took the most eager interest in it, and rejoiced over it, 
and cooperated with Dr. Phillips in it at every step, 
we have abundant proof; but in the communications 
which passed between them. Dr. Phillips seems nat- 
urally to speak of the enterprise as moving forward 
under his hand, very much as Phillips Academy had 
done under the eye of Judge Phillips ; while the lat- 
ter, as naturally, writes of the satisfaction which he 
derives from his uncle's plans and efforts, as they are 

19 



218 MEMOIR OF 

from time to time made known to him. The truth 
was, Judge Phillips had, in the process of originating 
Phillips Academy, so infused his spirit into his uncle, 
that he needed no other stimulus to such a work. He 
saw that his nephew would have no need of his for- 
tune, except to consecrate it to some such public use. 
He had no children on whom to bestow it. He could 
alone most amply endow a school, which would be a 
lasting monument of his zeal for Christian learning, 
and in the few years since his attention had been first 
called to this great subject by his nephew he appears 
to have already matured his noble project. The first 
allusion to this topic, which we find in their letters, ap- 
pears in the following : — 

" Andover, February 26, 1781. 
" Honored Sir, — As I have so good a conveyance, I can't 
consent to its passing unimproved, though the bearer can 
tarry but little longer than while I acknowledge the receipt 
of your very valuable favor of the 24th ultimo ; for which I 
beg your acceptance of my warmest acknowledgments : — the 
contents are important, and if I was capable of returning an 
answer which would be worth your perusal, it is out of my 
power to do so now. . . . Mrs. Phillips and the little boy 
join in a tender of duty to our uncle and aunt, with 
" Your for ever obliged and most dutiful nephew, 

" S. Phillips, Jr." 

Two months later, in a letter from Boston, April 23, 
1781, he writes, in connection with other business : — 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 219 

" Honored Sir, — ... Since receiving your last favor, I 
have been chiefly from home, and when at home have been so 
unfortunate as not to obtain Messrs. French's and Pearson's 
opinion of the dimensions of a building that would be most 
convenient for an Academy : — this I hope for speedily, and 
shall with great pleasure transmit it. The joy I felt, on find- 
ing that you had it in contemplation to lay the foundation 
of another Academy, was great indeed : so great, that I 
hardly know of any thing within human reach that could 
have given me more satisfaction, save the intelligence that 
your purpose was executed. May my honored uncle long^ 
enjoy the fruits of his pious cares and projections, in seeing 
those who are furnished with the best principles filling the 
most important places in Church and State, and doing 
worthily for the kingdom of our glorious Saviour. The 
impatience of the bearer forbids my adding more than my 
dutiful addresses to my honored aunt, and that I am, 

" With the warmest sentiments of gratitude and respect, 
" Your very dutiful nephew. S. Phillips, Jr." 

To this his uncle replied : — 

"Exeter, April 27, 1781. 
" Dear Sir : — ... Your concurring sentiments and warm 
expressions respecting another Academy, are very refreshing 
and highly animating; and will greatly endear you to my 
friends here, who were encouraged to expect the help of 
yom- advice, and such assistance as might, in a course of 
time, when you shall have more leisure especially, greatly 
increase the benefit of such an institution. The motion was 
exceedingly agreeable to the General Court, who have incor- 



220 MEMOIR OF 

porated the Academy, by the name of the Phillips Exe- 
ter Academy, for the purposes mentioned in yours; and 
the trustees nominated and appointed (besides myself) are, 
Daniel Tilton and Thomas Odiorne, Esquires, of this town, 
John Pickering, Esq., of Portsmouth, David Maclure, of 
Northampton, Clerk, the Hon. S. Phillips, Jr. Esq., Ando- 
ver, and the Preceptor, Mr. Benjamin Thurston — the estate 
allowed the same with yours — and might have been 
twice so much (I doubt not) had it been asked ; and 
the Act concludes thus : ' And whereas the said Institution 
may be of very gi-eat and general advantage to this State, 
and deserves every encouragement ; be it therefore enacted, 
by the authority aforesaid, that all the lands, tenements, and 
personal estate, that shall be given to the said Trustees for 
the use of said Academy, shall be and hereby are forever ex- 
empted from all taxes whatsoever ; ' which very encouraging 
clause concludes me, Most affectionately yours, 

"J. Phillips. 
" Hon. S. Phillips, Jr., Esq." 

The " purpose " of Dr. Phillips, it appears, " was exe- 
cuted." The Act of Incorporation bears date the third 
of April, 1781; the school, which was so carefully in 
all respects taking its predecessor at Andover for a 
model, being endowed by his munificence as its sole 
Founder. Fifty thousand dollars were given by him at 
the outset for this purpose. 

The opening of the school, however, w^as deferred 
until a suitable building could be erected and a pre- 
ceptor found: and was still further delayed by some 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 221 

opposition to his wishes in regard to its location ; con- 
cerning which he writes freely as follows to Judge 
Phillips : — 

" ExKTER, September 13, 1781. 
" Dear Kinsman, — The Trustees in town met soon after 
you left us, and could agree no better than before. I rec- 
ollected a word you dropped, — that if people in town 
insisted on building upon the spot first proposed, and would 
convert the building to some other purpose if it was found 
by experience not to answer this, it might put an end 
to the present difficulty ; I ventured to propose the question 
as a thought of my own ; the tiuo gentlemen were so confi- 
dent that it would answer the purpose, that they manifested 
a willingness to take that risk upon themselves : it must lie 
there, for all the other Trustees are differently minded. Mr. 
Pickering, indeed, says he did not give his opinion, when in 
town before, officially ; and upon reading the Act, said it was 
not the Trustees' business to determine the matter — sup- 
pose he meant without a trial — I sent for Mr. Maclure. He 
was fully of your opinion, — spake his mind with gi'cat free- 
dom and solemnity. Mr. Thurston and I have often repeated 
our own sentiments, and have continued our endeavors to 
obtain another spot more suitable. The gentleman who ow^ns 
the land, where you were pleased to say it might give the 
pleasure of inspecting to some advantage, has been waited 
on, and consented to sell half an acre, with the addition of a 
convenient way to the finest spring in town, within about 
eight or ten rods of it ; but the two gentlemen with a num- 
ber of others to the west of the town, say 't is an incon- 
venient place, and pay little or no attention to it. They have 

19* 



222 MEMOIR OF 

treated with General Folsom for half an acre bordering upon 
the Common, but say his price is very unreasonable. They 
have again treated with the man whose land joins upon mine 
at the little precipice ; he will not spare the quantity which I 
insist upon as necessary in that very confined situation. 
They can have half an acre at three fold the value, and are 
so attached to the spot, I hear, they mean to purchase it ; 
hoping it may reconcile the Trustees to continue it there. 
They know it (the school) must be opened in town ; and if 
they will run the hazard of its removal, what shall — what 
can we say more I . . . . 

" I wish to know in time, this fall, when you suppose you 
can attend a Trustee meeting here ; if you judge it necessary 
there should be one. The frame was ready to be erected 
last Friday. I suspect they will purchase the additional half 
acre to-day ; if they proceed, one room, at least, will, they 

say, be in readiness by the first day of November In 

tenders of love to you and yoiu* other self and Johnny, your 
aunt joins with your uncle John." 

Another letter soon followed. 

" ExETEB, October 5, 1781. 
"Dear Kinsman, — Having a favorable opportunity by 
Mr. Thm-ston, I write, hoping he will more fully communi- 
cate matters respecting himself and the school here 

The building is erected where the builders pleased ; and sup- 
pose one room may be finished this month. But whether it 
would be best to desire a gentleman so out of health as Mr. 
Thurston really is, to enter for so short a time, or to wait till 
spring in order to procure an Instructor who might be em- 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 223 

ployed and settled to his own and others' advantage, is the 
question. 

" Your sentiments herein would lay a fresh obligation upon 
your loving uncle, John Phillips." 

The opening of the school, which had been retarded 
by these obstacles, finally took place on the 1st of May, 
1783, and from this time its Founder had the satisfac- 
tion of watching its prosperity and usefulness for many 
years, parallel with the history of its earlier compeer 
at Andover.^ During these conferences of Judge Phil- 
lips with his uncle in reference to this Academy in 
1781, he repeatedly alludes, in his letters, to the sub- 
ject of building a house, at last, for his own family 
residence ; such a step as he now felt had become a 
necessity. And here we shall see how his deliberation 
and forecast, in planning for his own home, resulted, ulti- 
mately, in important advantages to his cherished school. 
Early in the spring of 1782, he purchased of one of 
the heirs of Samuel Abbott, deceased, a tract adjoining 
the lands of the Trustees on the south, on which the 
residence of the late Professor Stuart was afterwards 
built. A few days later he concluded a contract made 
nearly a year before, with William Foster, for a tract 
of several acres, now included in the Seminary grounds, 
upon the southerly side on Salem street, and extend- 
ing around a short distance upon Main street j and on 

^ See Appendix I. 



224 MEMOIR OP 

the same day he obtained, of Asa Holt, a small tract 
more remote from the Academy, near the southerly 
section of its lands obtained from the estate of George 
Abbott. By these purchases nearly the whole of " An- 
dover Hill " came into his own and the Trustees' hands. 
Soon after this he negotiated with the Trustees for the 
site of his mansion-house, adjoining his recent pur- 
chases, on the south-east corner of the tract originally 
obtained of Solomon Wardwell, exchanging for an acre 
and a half here about three acres on the corner w^here 
the new Academy was soon erected. A little later he 
purchased for his father and uncle, in the name of the 
Trustees, the " old training field," on the corner oppo- 
site.^ After he had erected his mansion-house here, 
as described in a preceding chapter, and had taken 
possession of it, his uncle, in a long communication re- 
specting the affairs of his Academy, greeted him in 
these cordial words : — 

" Exeter, January 14, 1783. 
"Dear Kinsman, — Your very kind favor of the 31st of 
December I received, and heartily congratulate you on your 
removal into your new habitation, after the uncomfortable 
situation you have lately been in. Heaven grant the devout 
wishes of your heart respecting this residence, — a heart 
which is, I trust, the habitation of God, through the Spirit, 
and rejoiceth in Him more than in all worldly accommoda- 

^ See again Appendix G. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 225 

tions and successes, which justly merit and happily excite 

your dutiful and grateful acknowledgments 

" I am, with love to your whole self, 

" Most affectionately yours, 

"John Phillips." 

In this connection we give also an extract from an- 
other letter of later date, as both give important inti- 
mations of the freedom with which Judge Phillips sug- 
gested his characteristic views to his uncle, and of the 

great weight which was attached to them. 

« 

" Exeter, August 18, 1 783. 

" Dear Sir, -^ Your favor of the 16th I received ; am sorry 
to hear of our dear sister's illness May Heaven con- 
tinue so great a blessing with us ; her dearest connections in 
particular 

" Your very rational, generous, and religious plan of im- 
proving moneys for the advantage of the public, in promoting 
education, must meet my fuUest approbation ; and in conse- 
quence, command my future, as well as present, attention, — 
how to come at the means is the only obstacle. The agree- 
ableness of your neighbor gives me pleasure. Under your 
very many cares and labors, kind Heaven affords you many 
comfortable enjoyments, — his name be praised, and Himself 
will doubtless be the supreme object of your confidence and 
joy. Oh, pray that it may be so with your poor unworthy 
uncle, whose love to yourself and the whole family is most 
cordially returned. John Phillips." 

In speaking of the erection of his mansion, we have 



226 MEMOIR OF 

stated that one reason for his building so large a house 
was Judge Pliillij),s's desire to show suitable hospitality 
to his numerous friends. Another reason was his wish 
to have a few members of the Academy in his family 
from term to term. For the sake of the school gen- 
erally, and in the hope of special usefulness to such 
as became members of his family, though so much 
absent himself, he cherished this as a favorite feature 
of his work, and Madam Phillips warmly seconded 
his views. From this date, therefore, a few of the 
scholars found a home here year after year, A 
sketch of "Mayor" Phillips of Boston, in 1825, from 
the pen of S. L. Knapp, in the Boston Monthly Maga- 
zine, incidentally shows us how admirably this arrange- 
ment subserved the great ends of the school. After 
speaking of the Academy itself, he says : — 

" Young Phillips had other high advantages for improving 
his mind and manners, for he lived in the house of his kins- 
man, Samuel Phillips, which was also an admirable school 
for youth. The master of the mansion was truly a great 
man, distinguished not only for the numerous offices he held 
in civil and political life, but for his ardent desire to promote 
the cause of religion and learning in the land, believing that 
the permanency of our freedom depended upon the diffusion of 
knowledge amongst the rising generations. . . . Many young 
men were permitted to live in his house, and he took so 
deep an interest in the pupils of the Academy, as constantly 
to keep in view their course of study, and frequently to 
question them on the subject. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 227 

" In these dialogues he used the choicest language himself, 
and was careful to correct the youths who suffered a low, 
inappropriate, or equivocal word or expression to escape 
them. In all this his manner, though solemn, was kind, and 
encouraged the most timid to answer his inquiries, and put 
interrogatories with freedom. 

" Mi-s. Phillips, his lady, was of stiU more importance to 
those under their care than her husband. She possessed a 
mind cultivated by extensive reading, and manners refined 
by early advantages, and a long acquaintance with the best 
society. She was blest with a fine flow of spirits, a rich im- 
agination, an affectionate heart ; and acted the fond mother 
to all under her roof, or within the reach of her care. It was 
impossible for any one to live with her a month, without 
understanding the value of a pure, elevated, and polished 
woman in the education of men." ^ 

Still another reason for a large edifice was, the wish 
of Judge Phillips always to have the Trustees meet 
at his house and share in his hospitalities. This prac- 
tice of entertaining them, gratuitously, at their various 
official meetings, he introduced at the founding of the 
School, and continued while he lived, as Madam Phil- 
lips did afterwards during her lifetime. 

And once fairly in the occupancy of his new resi- 
dence, with such views and aims in reference to the 
Academy, he was soon engaged in another effort to 
improve the Institution. 

1 Pages. 282, 283. 



228 MEMOIR OF 

The first Academy building, even if it had been 
intended for permanent use, was too small for the 
enlarged work now done in it. Indeed, it had been 
apparent, after only two years' trial, that such would 
be the case, and as early as 1780, the subject of erect- 
ing a new edifice began to be agitated ; in 1784, the 
plan and location of it were determined, and a com- 
mittee was instructed to build it as soon as the neces- 
sary means could be procured; during the year 1785, 
the building was completed ; and, on the 30th of Jan- 
uary, 1786, the school was removed to it, in the last 
week of Mr. Pearson's service as Principal, his election 
as Professor at Cambridge having been already ac- 
cepted.-^ This " New Academy," as it was then called, 
stood near the south-west corner of the present Semi- 
nary lawn, opposite the Abbott Professor's house. It 
was a two-story edifice of wood, with recitation rooms 
and a study room on the lower floor, arranged for one 
hundred pupils, and a spacious hall for exhibitions and 
other public purposes on the second floor. The old 
Academy remained for many years on its original site, 
where it was for a time used as a singing-room, then 
as a store-room for paper rags, etc., until, in 1803, it 
was sold and removed about half a mile eastward, to 
be fitted up for a dwelling-house,^ in which form it 

* Academy Records, p. 40, 45, 53, 55, 60. 

^ The residence for many years of widow Hannah Berry. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 229 

remained until it was torn down, about ten years since, 
to make room for a new house on the same spot. 

The " New Academy " was worthy of the growing 
reputation of the School. But how were the means 
obtained to erect and furnish it ? It was located on a 
portion of one of Judge Phillips's recent purchases, 
which he had transferred to the Trustees in exchange 
for the site of his mansion-house ; the building was 
erected under his direction, at the joint expense of the 
two original Founders, and their brother, Hon. William 
Phillips of Boston ; " they," as the entry in the Jour- 
nal states, " having given the same to the Trustees in 
equal parts," together with the training field on the 
south side of the road. The whole cost was three 
thousand one hundred and sixty-six dollars and sixty- 
six cents ; for which the Institution was not only 
indebted to their liberality, but to the influence of 
Judge Phillips in eliciting it. Prior to the erection of 
this commodious building, the exhibitions of the 
School had been held in the village church. In 1788, 
two years after it was completed, the use of the Hall 
on the Sabbath was tendered by the Trustees to the 
Parish as a place of worship, while the old meeting- 
house could be demolished and a new one built. Judge 
Phillips being appointed to communicate the vote.^ 

While these changes were in progress, both in con- 
nection with the school and with his private affairs, he 

^ Appendix, J. 

20 



230 MEMOIR OF 

had erected a store, East of the old Academy, on the 
opposite side of the highway, near the present front 
entrance to the Seminary grounds. In this state " the 
Hill " remained now for a considerable period, the man- 
sion-house, the new Academy,^ and the store being the 
only additions as yet to the buildings which were in 
existence at the opening of the School. Such was the 
aspect of things here, at the time of Washington's visit. 
An old stone wall inclosed the tract now in front of 
the Seminary buildings, in which the rocks, birches, 
alders, bushes, and briars of every sort were still undis- 
turbed ; the lands south and north of the old Academy 
were occupied as a farm for tillage and pasturage ; there 
was a plain face wall along the front line of Judge 
Phillips's house lot, and the area in front of his mansion 
was an open common, as seen in the accompanying 
outline. 

Before the new Academy was completed. Dr. Phil- 
lips had often expressed the desire that Judge Phillips 
would do him the favor to sit for his portrait, respect- 
ing which we insert the following extract as an illus- 
tration of their mutual regard : — 

" Boston, February 7, 1 785. 
" Honored Sir, — ... Your repeated mention of a sub- 
ject, which is a farther evidence of your partiality for your 

The " New Academy," which is remembered by large numbers 
of the Alumni of the School as their literary home, was destroyed 
by fire on the night of January 30, 1818. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 231 

unworthy nephew, demands my warmest acknowledgments. 
To comply with your desire while the Court is sitting is not 
in my power, being constantly taken up from ten in the 
morning till nine at night, with only a short intermission at 
noon ; and I hope to obtain my uncle's consent for a delay, 
for the present at least. The hurry of the gentleman who 
will carry this to Haverhill, gives me only time to add that 
we have the prospect of a permanent bridge of Charles 
River,^ that friends at Boston are well, and that I am, 
" With the most dutiful respect, 

" Your obliged nephew, S. P., Jr." 

^ " This was the first effort," says Dr. Dwiglit, " to erect a bridge 

over a broad river in the American States. A brief account of its 
origin will not be destitute of interest. 

" Judge Russell, the gentleman whom I have already respectfully 
mentioned, was long and ardently desirous that a bridge should be 
erected between these towns. As he advanced in years he became 
more and more solicitous to see the work accomplished. His son, 
the late Hon. Thomas Russell, and bis son-in-law, the late Hon. 
John Lowell, District Judge of Massachusetts, together with several 
other gentlemen connected with them, were earnestly desirous to see 
the wishes of this venerable man realized. At that time it was uni- 
versally believed, that for a river so wide and a current so strong, a 
floating bridge was the only practicable structure of this nature. 
Tliey, therefore, engaged a gentleman to obtain for them a correct 
account of the construction, expense, convenience, and security, of 
the floating bridge, then lying on the Schuylkill at Philadelphia. 
Several other persons, at that time bound for Euroi)0, they requested 
also to furnish them with similar information concerning; brido;es in 
that quarter of the globe. While this business was in agitation, both 
the gentlemen being on a visit at Cambridge during the session of 



232 MEMOIR OF 

Not unwilling to gratify his uncle, he is yet so intent 
on other cares that he cannot find the time for an act 
so personal ! And it Avas this absorbing devotion to his 
life's work, which drew the heart of his uncle toward 
him with so much aftectionate confidence. 

x\fter a brief interval, therefore, we find them again 

the Supreme Judicial Court, they made the projected bridge a sub- 
ject of conversation with the Hon. David Sewall, one of the judges. 
In the course of this conversation, the designs mentioned above were 
particuhirly stated. On his return to York, the place of his resi- 
dence, Judge Sewall communicated this information to his brother, 
Major Sewall, a gentleman distinguished for peculiar mechanical tal- 
ents. After being informed that the difficulties presented by the 
stream furnished the only reason for erecting a floating bridge, Major 
Sew'all observed that a fixed bridge might be constructed, as easily 
and certainly, to be secure from the dangers of the current. His 
brother requested him to state his views to the gentlemen concerned. 
Accordingly he formed, and communicated, a scheme for the intended 
structure. After this scheme had been thoroughly examined, the 
original design was relinquished, and the present bridge begun. At 
the request of the undertakers, Major Sewall came to Boston, and 
continued to superintend the work, until he had completely possessed 
the builders of the principles on which it was to be accomplished." 
..." Charlestown brid2;e was finished in 1787. It is built on 
seventy-five wooden piers, and is forty-two feet in breadth, and one 
thousand five hundred and three in length ; tlie river being here two 
hundred and eighty feet wider than the Thames at Westminster, and 
six hundred and three feet wider than the same river at London 
bridge. It is also deeper." ..." The l>ridge was built by two able 
and ingenious American artists, Messrs. Cox and Stone, and cost fifty 
thousand dollars." — Dwighfs Travels, Vol. I. p. 49i5-497. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 233 

interchanging letters in reference to the Academy a.t 
Andover, which resulted in giving it an entirely new 
and most important feature. The Institution was now, 
for the time, amply furnished with lands and buildings ; 
but Judge Phillips, who had from the first w^ished to 
make it as far as possible an inexpensive school, was 
specially interested to connect with it every prac- 
ticable aid to the indigent, and particularly to candi- 
dates for the gospel ministry ; nor had Dr. Phillips, in 
all his efforts at Exeter, lost sight of this great want at 
Andover. We introduce here a portion of their cor- 
respondence on this subject. 

" Exeter, March 15, 1789. 

" Dear Kinsman, — I thank you for your kind concern for 
my health, expressed in polite and endearing terms ; may 
your pious wishes with respect to any future usefulness be 
answered : and particularly with regard to our Academies. 
Gracious Heaven bless them both, in this and future genera- 
tions I And may your cares, labors, and experience, be eter- 
nally and most bountifully rewarded ; your numbers exceed 
those here — and of Latin pupils especially. I think Mr. 
Abbott has forty-five this spring, and proves a faithful in- 
structor. . . . 

" President Wheelock was with me about five weeks. 
The Court allowed payment of my donation in State notes. 
... As for obtaining help from Government, towards sup- 
port of a Professor of Divinity, there is no prospect of it. I 
purchased of the President five hundred acres of College 
land, at an easy rate, and promised to quit it, provided the 

20* 



234 MEMOIR OF 

Trustees would appropriate this, and all other lands 1 had 
given them, to the support of a Professor of Divinity." 

" Exeter, April 20, 1789. 

" My dear Sir, — I received your kind favor of the 16th 
instant, and am much obliged by your just and useful obser- 
vations with respect to Academy instructors. I have had 
your Bradford scholar much in my mind; but upon your 
recommendation shall turn my attention more upon Dana. 

" With regard to your acceptance of an office, you may 
very soon be elected to, what shall or can I be expected to 
say ? especially as I am ignorant of the salary. Your great 
and constant attention to the public interest, since you en- 
tered upon the stage of business, has, it seems, exposed you 
to losses and embarrassments in your private concerns, — and 
you are now become more sensible of the importance and 
even the necessity of providing for your family, mailing pay- 
ments, etc. etc. In this you are undoubtedly right : — what 
very clear and indisputable tendency your closing with a 
certain offer would have hereto, all circumstances considered, 
yourself, and your nearest and most dear connections are 
much better judges than I can be ; especially in my present 
weak state of body and mind, which forbids any very intense 
thought. 

" With respect to our Andover Academy, your personal 
oversight was what I had in view, at the first; and have 
hitherto rejoiced in the peculiar benefit of it. The expense 
arising from the late elegant building, you will be so good as 
to acquaint me with. I have long been thinking whether 
the donation for pious and charitable uses might not be best 
secured by the whole number of Trustees, because they are a 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 235 

body politic; and may very judiciously order and improve 
that part of the Academy estate, as may best answer the 
design. Ten years are past since I first wrote about such a 
donation; and 'tis likely as many more may pass, before pay- 
ments on the notes of hand will be generally obtained. 
What will you and your judicious father and uncle William 
object to the admitting into the Academy a number of poor 
children of good morals, and a very promising genius, and 
support in part or wholly till they are sufficiently proved ? 

" As to a college education, 'tis what I never had in 
view, — some, however, will not be contented without it; and 
those of ability will act their pleasure. The very best Aca- 
demical education may surely answer some of the best and 
most valuable purposes. And if the Trustees of our Acade- 
mies, in some future time, employ a very sound Theological 
Professor, why may not some of the most orthodox and 
pious preachers proceed from them? or why may not charity 
scholars be expected to obtain a degree, if well qualified 
therefor, at some of our Colleges ? . . . May you, my dear 
and loving kinsman, be under the Divine direction. As duty 
appears, you will act. If God calls you, his presence will go 
with you, and this shall be my comfort ! 

" I am, with our love to your whole self and the children, 

" Most affectionately yours, J. Phillips. 

" Hon. Samuel Phillips, Jr., Esq." 

" Boston, May 30, 1 789. 

" Honored Sir, — I have attempted repeatedly to write to 

you, but have been as often prevented by one means and 

another. . . . Will it not be best that charity scholars should, 

in all cases, be required to do what they can for themselves ? 



236 MEMOIR OF 

I mean without interfering with their studies, in order that 
the Academy Fund may be made as extensively useful as 
possible ? Some precaution of this nature I had in my 
mind to suggest the expediency of, now you are putting your 
donation for pious and charitable uses into the hands of the 
Trustees : — and one more I will venture to hint ; where a 
charity scholar, after having obtained a competent share of 
knowledge, shall from inclination pursue any other study and 
Profession than that of Divinity, — or where a person, after 
having received the benefit of this donation, shall engage in 
trade or any other lucrative business, and thereby advance 
his interest, or be guilty of any foul immorality, — in either 
of those cases, should not the favored person be held to repay 
the money expended for his benefit, in whole or in part, and 
with or without interest, according as his circumstances may 
enable him ? Will it not be proper to require, that none 
shall enjoy the benefit of this donation but persons of truth 
and fidelity, and such as give good evidence of their piety 
and virtue ? 

" Will it not be desirable to empower the Trustees to ex- 
pend part of the income for some other special purpose, when 
two thirds of them shall judge that the great objects in vieiv 
will be better promoted by any other particular appropriation 
of such part than by the support of charity scholars ? Your 
own consent, where the opinion of the majority shall be in 
favor of such other appropriation, should authorize it ; im- 
portant advantages might arise from such a liberty, if due 
care be taken to prevent misapplication. 

^' Would it not have this tendency, if you should reserve 
the right of naming some person, before your decease, whose 
consent afterwards should be necessary, in order to justify 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 237 

such different appropriation, — he to have no power in the 
case, unless one half or two thirds of the board should be in 
favor of the measure ? Such person, being the object of 
special confidence, would, if deserving it, feel a special obli- 
gation to vig-Uance, and to see that the intention of the donor 
was executed. I hope the right will be reserved of making 
any such other special appropriation of such part of the inter- 
est as you shall judge proper, during yom lifetime, perpetual. 

" Will not the state of your health admit of your afford- 
ing us the pleasure of your company at the Trustee meeting 
of your Andover Academy ? I presume my uncle William 
will be there; — your meeting the brethren would be very 
pleasing, and the other Trustees will be highly gratified, but 
none more than he who has received so many expressions of 
affection, though so unworthy of them ; — you doubtless re- 
member that the meeting is to be on Tuesday, in the week 
before Commencement at Cambridge, which will be the 7th 
of July. If the proposed transfer of your donation should 
take place at this meeting, that will afford a further reason 
for your being present ; . . . but any or all the reasons to- 
gether will not be sufficient to justify your exposing your- 
self . . . 

" Please to present my duty to my aunt. 
" I am with unfeigned gratitude, 

" Your much obliged and dutiful nephew, 

" S. Phillips, Jr." 

The donation to the Andover Academy referred to 
in these letters, amoiuiting to more than twenty thou- 
sand dollars, was finally made in October, 1789, and 
communicated in due form to the Trustees at their 



238 MEMOIR OF 

next annual meeting in July, 1700. As the deed of 
gift, conveying this munificent sum, is not now to be 
found among the files of the Institution, his aim in 
the donation, and the connection of Judge Phillips 
with it, must be inferred from their letters, and from 
the following record. 

On receiving the donation, the Trustees immediately 
" Voted, That the Honorable Samuel Phillips, Jr., Rev. 
Mr. Tappan, and Mr. Pearson be a committee, to draft 
a vote of thanks to the Honorable John Phillips, Esq., 
for his very generous donation to the Academy." Their 
draft, which was reported and adopted, was in these 
words : — 

" The Board, having been made acquainted by a legal in- 
strument, bearing date the 16th day of October, 1789, this 
day communicated, that the Honorable John Phillips, Esq., 
of Exeter, one of the founders of this Academy, ' for and in 
consideration of further promoting the virtuous and pious 
education of youth, (poor children of genius, and of serious 
disposition especially,) in Phillips Academy, founded in An- 
dover, in the State of Massachusetts,' has given and granted 
to the Trustees of said Academy and their successors, or 
their order, certain notes of hand, therein described, to a very 
large amount, under certain reservations, therein mentioned, 

" Voted, That the thanks of the Board be presented to the 
Honorable John Phillips, Esq., for his before-cited pious and 
liberal donation, whereby he has still fm-ther manifested his 
generous and ardent zeal for the promotion of knowledge, 
virtue, and piety, and conferred an additional and lasting ob- 
ligation upon the Academy. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 239 

" Upon this occasion, the Trustees cannot but add their 
fervent wish and prayer, that the Donor, the distinguished 
Friend and Patron of science and religion, may live to behold, 
with increasing joy and satisfaction, the happy fruits of this, 
and of all his other pious liberalities ; and at a very remote 
period, his numerous acts of benevolence may receive that 
reward, which original and infinite goodness can bestow." ^ 

We have thus far been the more particular in our 
statements of the varied agency which Judge Phillips 
had in enlisting the cooperation of this uncle, and also 
of his father and other relatives in his plans, because, 
while ascribing so high an honor to him, we have 
wished also to do ample justice to them. 

It is a remarkable circumstance, that tJiis noble dona- 
tion of his uncle at Exeter was communicated to the 
Board at the last meeting which his father, the elder 
brother, ever attended ; and we cannot so well pay the 
tribute, which we have contemplated, to these three 
brothers, at any other stage of our narrative, as by 
presenting them in a group in this connection. 

The eldest of this distinguished trio, Samuel PJdlUps, 
Esq., of North Andover, has been already somewhat 
distinctly broiTght before the reader, by our incidental 
references to him in the progress of this memoir. 
After graduating at Harvard College in 1734, he for a 

^ Academy Records, p. 77, 78. 



240 MEMOIR OP 

short period instructed the grammar-school in his na- 
tive town; but soon devoted himself mainly to mer- 
cantile pursuits, in the North Parish, where he contin- 
ued to reside for more than fifty years. 

Of his college life or his earlier years, we have 
learned no important particulars, except that from his 
childhood upward his intellectual and moral traits 
bore a remarkable resemblance to his revered father's ; 
and as these became stereotyped in his full manhood, 
the other sons, who were several years his juniors, hon- 
ored him with a deference similar to that which they 
all felt for their father. 

He had more of the reverend clergyman's exact, 
rigid, inflexible, commanding spirit, than they ; and less 
opportunity or disposition to temper it, by an enlarged 
intercourse with the world ; yet, with the advantages 
of his home education and his collegiate course, he was 
in mind and manners, a man of letters, not less than a 
man of business. There is not, in the entire gallery 
of the family portraits, one which catches the eye 
sooner than his, for its courtly and dignified mien. He 
has been sometimes represented as unduly precise and 
exacting, both as a merchant and a magistrate ; as insist- 
ing too tenaciously upon mere rights, to the neglect of 
expediencies and amenities. If this was ever the case, 
it may have been as justly chargeable to the times as 
to the man ; or it may have resulted from the very vir- 
tues for which he is to be honored ; his exalted love 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 241 

of justice, his liigli-toned patriotism, his prhnitive sim- 
plicity and frugaUtj, his fervent religious faith and 
zeal. 

In the great struggle of the country for its liberties, 
no man was more steadfast, or more ardent than he. 
Other civil services he appears to have carefully per- 
formed, from a sense of duty chiefly, and not from 
any special interest in them, — but in the Revolution 
his whole heart became enlisted. The entire action 
of the town in the contest, so much of which we have 
in a former chapter detailed, was spontaneous, — it 
w^as such action as a community of patriots would most 
naturally have taken, — yet it was sj)ecially stimulated 
by him, as an acknowledged leader. When they gave 
him " instructions " how to act as their representative, 
it was at his suggestion ; and with his own pen the 
instructions were carefully drafted, which he was as 
careful to obey. Even the ever active zeal of his son 
here did not surpass the heartiness and energy of the 
father's patriotic impulses ; and it has seemed to us 
that all of his strongest characteristics shine out with 
more lustre here than anj^vhere else. 

One can read, without special note, of his having 
been long a Justice of the Peace and of the Quorum, 
of his being chosen Representative to the General 
Court and the Convention of Deputies, of his election 
as one of the Governor's Council, of the various civil 
and religious offices which were conferred upon him 

21 



242 MEMOIR OF 

in his native town, and which he discharged with ac- 
ceptance, as well as of his unsullied probity and great 
success in business ; but when we see how eagerly his 
best efforts were put forth, year after year, among the 
very foremost of the Revolutionary patriots, we most 
heartily admire and revere him. 

His connection with Phillips Academ}^, however, as 
one of \i^ founders, is the fact in his history, which, more 
than any thing else, will give him a lasting name. 
Though so deeply involved in the Revolutionary strug- 
gle, like his son, he found time and inclination minutely 
to scan this literary project in all its bearings ; and, as 
it came to maturity, devoted to it his time and counsel 
and money, with an intelligent interest commensurate 
with its importance. Residing so near the Institution, 
however, and in almost daily conference as he was 
with his son, there are few memorials of his agency 
left in letters or other manuscripts, except the Records 
of the Board of Trustees. 

At the organization of this Board he was unani- 
mously chosen President, and was annually reelected 
to this office until his decease. Scarcely a meeting of 
the Trustees was held, for this whole period of more 
than twelve years, which he did not attend ; although 
the details of service in various particulars were usu- 
ally assigned to the younger members, under the lead 
of his son. No feature of the school appears to have 
interested him so much as its religious aims and ten- 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 24 



o 



dencies ; devoted as he had ever been in his attach- 
ment to the sound and vital faith of his fathers. 

Cooperating thus actively with his son in plans and 
efforts to benefit the Academy, and often renewing his 
gifts to relieve its exigencies or to augment its useful- 
ness, he had the great joy, at last, of seeing its endow- 
ments munificently reinforced by the ample donation 
of his brother and co-founder ; and then he could well 
say, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in 
peace." He died shortly after this donation was ten- 
dered to the Board, August 21, 1790, aged seventy-five 
years and six months ; and as his death thus began to 
dissolve the band of the Academy's originators and 
patrons, all who were connected with the Institution 
united in paying their tribute to his memory. 

An obituary notice in the " Centinel " states that, — 

" His funeral was attended with great solemnity. The or- 
der of procession was as follows : — 

The Students of the Academy. 

The Assistant and Writing Instructor. 

The Principal. 

The Trustees, all with the usual badge of mourning. 

The Corpse, 

Followed by the mourners, and a numerous train of respectable 

friends and acquaintances. 

In this order they proceeded from the late mansion of the 
deceased to the meeting-house ; where, after a very pertinent 
prayer by the Rev. Mr. Symmes, a judicious and pathetic 



244 MEMOIR OP 

oration was delivered by 31/: Pemberton, Princij:)al of tlie 

Academy The solemnities were introduced by a hymn 

and closed by an anthem, excellently adapted to the occasion. 
In the same order the procession moved from the meeting- 
house to the place of interment It is but a just trib- 
ute to uncommon merit to observe, that if integrity of heart, 
and purity of morals, an exemplary conduct in private life, 
a conscientious, faithful discharge of the various offices he 
sustained, and singular liberality in the cause of religion and 
learning, constitute a good and great character, it was emi- 
nently his." ^ 

The second of the three brothers, Hon. John Phil- 
lips, LL. D., of Exeter, now claims our notice. Of 
his connection with the chief subject of this me- 
moir, in the founding an endowment of Phillips Acad- 
emy, and also of Phillips Exeter Academy, we have 
spoken at large heretofore. His regard for Judge 
Phillips, which so often throws its fascination around 
"US, was doubtless the incentive with him to not a little 
of all this varied generosity. Yet the more we have 
studied and admired them together, the more have 
they seemed to us to be linked with each other in 
such deeds by a strong native congeniality of spirit. 

^ His wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Phillips had died, the previous autumn, 
aged seventy-one ; an obituary notice of whom, at the time, closes 
with these lines : — 

" Think what the mother, Christian, friend, should be, 
You 've then her character, for such was she." 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 245 

We do not conceive it possible to say any thing more 
just or honorable to Dr. Phillips, than to characterize 
him as eminently like his nephew, the Judge. 

Dr. Phillips, like his elder brother, had obtained a 
liberal education ; and after graduating from Harvard 
College, in 1735, but one year later than his brother, 
had engaged in teaching for a short period, when, with 
such preparation as the times afforded, he began to 
preach the Gospel. Numbers of the sermons which 
he wrote are still preserved ; and it could not have 
been from any want of regard for the profession, or 
any want of encouragement in it, that he finally relin- 
quished it; for in subsequent years, after settling in 
business at Exeter, and teaching a classical school there 
for a time, when the church in that village, in which 
he was a ruling elder, was seeking a new pastor, he 
was unanimously invited to accept that office. He is 
said to have often stated, and especially after he had 
repeatedly listened to the preaching of Whitefield, that 
he did not feel qualified for the ministry. 

Turning, therefore, to pursuits for which he deemed 
himself better fitted, he became distinguished not only 
for his hearty sympathy with the clergy, but for his 
zeal in fostering institutions to educate them. It was 
with the most liberal and far-reaching views that he 
dispensed his gifts in this great work. Instead of with- 
drawing his aid from Andover, after he had undertaken 

21* 



246 MEMOIR OF 

SO miicli at Exeter, he added donation to donation, 
until his gifts to Phillips Academy, including a legacy 
by his will, amounted to more than thirty thousand 
dollars. To his Academy at Exeter his donations were 
much larger. With other friends of learning in New 
England, he contributed also liberally to the funds of 
Princeton College. In Dartmouth College, of which 
he was for twenty years a trustee, he endowed a Pro- 
fessorship of Theology ; and wherever his money was 
thus bestowed, his heart went with it. 

Had he not left these various monuments to his 
memory, his rare capacity and success as a merchant, 
his aptness as a teacher, his honors as colonel of the 
militia, or as one of the special justices of the Superior 
Court, might have been thought worthy of note ; but 
it is as the liberal patron of institutions of learning 
that he has been, and deserves to be, especially hon- 
ored. 

After the decease of his elder brother, he was chosen 
President of the Board of Trustees at Andover, which 
office he held until his death, April 21, 1795, at the 
age of seventy-five years and eight months; and the 
inscription which Professor Pearson is said to have pro- 
posed for his monument, has seemed to us an admi- 
rable expression of the spirit in which so beneficent a 
life was closed at last. By his will, two thirds of his 
estate was bequeathed to the Exeter Academy, and 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 247 

one third to the Academy at Andover ; and this was 
the proposed epitaph : — 

" Without natural issue, he made posterity Ms heir" ^ 

The younger brother, Hon. WiUiam Philhps of Bos- 
ton, had already begun to catch the spirit of the oth- 
ers, with reference to the endowment of institutions 
of learning, but was for the most part engaged in pros- 
ecuting other enterprises. Without the advantages of 
a liberal education, he had so much native force of 
mind, and so much practical culture from his inter- 
course with men of eminence in every profession, that 
there were few in our metropolis who exerted a more 
marked or salutary influence. Repairing at the early 
age of fifteen to the city as a clerk to Edward Brom- 
field, Esq., and subsequently marrying the daughter of 
his employer,^ he became a partner with him in the 
firm, and rapidly amassed a large fortune. 

As a representative from Boston in the General 
Court, as a member of the Senate and of the Gov- 
ernor's Council, as a delegate to the Convention for rat- 

^ Tliis epitaph reminds one of the memorable saying in regard to 
Washington, ^'■Heaven wrote him childless, that millions might find him 
a Father ! " — Knapp's Sketches, under the signature of Ignatius Loy- 
ola Robinson, LL. D., p. 253. 

^ By this manriage a great-great-grandson of the first minister of 
Watertown, was united to a great-great-granddaughter of the first 
minister of Boston, Eev. Jolm Wilson, who had come from England, 
it will be remembered, in the same company. 



248 MEMOIR OF 

ifying the Constitution of the United States, and in 
other offices, he had a long and honorable career of 
civil service ; in every stage of which he was promi- 
nent among the men of the period, especially in those 
emergencies which called for the highest judgment and 
resolution. Throughout the entire period of the Rev- 
olution, his name will be found constantly associated 
with the Adamses, and Bowdoin, and Hancock, and 
other leading patriots.^ His eldest daugliter was mar- 
ried to Josiah Quincy, Jr., and had taken refuge with 
the family in Norwich during the siege of Boston, 
when that heroic young orator died on his return 
voyage from England. With the firmest and stoutest 
of heart, he bore the very brunt of the conflict with 
Governor Gage; boldly protesting, in person, against 
his arbitrary measures, and resisting him at every step. 
But as these scenes, which so well elicited his zeal 
and decision, passed away, the current of his life moved 
on again calm and clear in its old channels ; and from 
spending his fortune freely in the cause of liberty, he 
began to make it more directly tributary to the cause 
of education and religion. Retaining still his careful- 
ness and exactness in all the daily details of business, 
his house was the hospitable home of the clergy from 

^ The " Committee of Safety," for example, chosen in Boston, 
July 26, 1774, were James Bowdoin, Samuel Adams, John Adams, 
John Hancock, William Phillips, Joseph Warren, and Josiah Quincy. 
— Frotldnghanis History of the Siege of Boston, p. 29. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 249 

every quarter; and whenever they or others sought 
the aid of his hand in any work of charity, it was 
freely bestowed. 

It was at his house that Judge Philhps usually stayed, 
year after year, during his long service in the General 
Court ; so unwilling were the family ever to have him 
go elsewhere. There are numerous passages in the let- 
ters of Judge Phillips, in which, with a touching fulness 
of heart, he expresses his sense of the kindness which 
he here received. One of these acknowledgments we 
cannot forbear to extract. "January 26, 1795," he 
writes, when suffering from illness: "My uncle and 
aunt are very cautious of uiy doing any thing that 
may hazard an exposure. They show me all the atten- 
tion, care, and affection that they could, if I was their 
child, and an only child." ... In the same letter he 
says, in reference to the devoted attentions of his 
aunt: "I can hardly realize that the disciple who 
washed the feet of our Divine Saviour and wiped them 
with her hair, had a better heart than this Christian." 
..." This instance of condescending goodness in the 
lady of a gentleman of the first fortune in New Eng- 
land, and one of the first in the United States," as he 
characterizes it, he gives "as a specimen of that un- 
wearied kindness which is shown " him. 

To the Academy at Andover, which his beloved 
nephew was ever fostering, this uncle had already 
made liberal donations ; having, besides other gifts, 



250 MEMOIR OF 

borne his third with the other brothers of the expense 
of erecting the new building. On the 12th of March, 
1797, Judge PhilUps writes in haste to Madam Pliil- 
hps : — 

" My dear Friend, — If this reaches you before you have 
sent a horse and chaise for me, please to omit it till Tues- 
day. My uncle has desired me to assist him about a piece 
of business this week that I know you will he pleased with. 
Indeed, it is doubtful whether I shall be able to get home 
before Thursday. 

" I am affectionately yours, S. P." 

The explanation of this hint is found in the codicil 
to his uncle's will, dated April 18, 1797, devising, with 
other charitable bequests, the sum of four thousand 
dollars to Phillips Academy, as a fund for aiding indi- 
gent scholars. 

With many such works of beneficence in the use of 
his large fortune, he was now preparing to leave both 
his estate and his Christian munificence of spirit to be 
inherited by his honored son. On the 15th of January, 
1804, " he died, in a good old age, full of days, riches, 
and honor." 

Thus lived and died the " three sons " of our venera- 
ble clergyman, in the very spirit of that religious 
injunction in his will, " to serve their generation accord- 
ing to y" will of God, by doing good, as they shall 
have y^ o]3portunity, unto all men, and especially to 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 251 

y household of faith ; as knowing y* it is more blessed 
to give than to receive ! " 

Excellent portraits of these three distinguished pat>- 
rons of learning, and of Judge Phillips, presented to 
the Institution which they had originated by His Honor 
William Phillips, of whom we shall hereafter speak, now 
adorn its halls ; and at every annual exhibition of the 
school, these four are seen together, as if in mid life 
yet upon the stage, watching the ever growing success 
of the great enterprise in which they so long labored. 

After the decease of Dr. John Phillips, Hon. William 
Phillips was chosen President of the Board of Trus- 
tees, until his age and infirmities led him to decline the 
office, when Judge Phillips was elected. 

The Academy was now in the full tide of a most 
gratifying prosperity: well endowed, though less amply 
so than the school at Exeter ; well instructed, and al- 
ready widely known as a model institution. Having 
with so much perseverance and success concentrated 
upon it the good-will of its family of patrons, Judge 
Phillips sought also now to enlist in its behalf the 
patronage of the State. His brother-in-law, Hon. John 
Foxcroft, had, through his agency, made a donation to 
the Academy of some lands in the District of Maine, 
valued at several hundred dollars. Judge Phillips was 
himself largely concerned in various operations con- 
nected with the lands of the Commonwealth in this 



252 M E M 1 11 F 

District. The State had for a succession of years 
honored him with important commissions, pertaining 
to its lands, so far as they had become a subject of 
dispute, or were to be offered for sale. The Eecords 
of the General Court show, that, from 1783 to the 
year of his decease, he was seldom free from trusts 
of this kind.-^ 

Connecting with his own Academy others of a 
similar character which had already sprung up, he 
succeeded now in obtaining, amid these labors, from 
the General Court, a grant of a half township of these 
lands to each institution, estimated at the time to 
be worth nearly $2,000;^ and the tract which was 
finally conveyed to Phillips Academy, was selected 
under his own eye ; but though it was a new proof of 
his deep interest in the school, this grant has never 
realized his expectations, and has been of compara- 
tively little advantage to the Institution. During his 
lifetime, no income was received from this source; 
but the school was sustained, and year after year en- 
larged, from the income of its various endowments 
by his relatives, and by means of its regular charges 
for tuition, while its advantages were made free to 
indigent young men from all sections of the country, 
by means of its beneficiary funds. 

Before it had been a score of years in operation, it 
had attained so wide a celebrity that not only the sons 

^ See Appendix K. ^ Ibid. L. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 253 

of gentlemen from* the various New England States, 
but from the South, and from the West Indies, and 
from France and other foreign countries, resorted to it ; 
and Judge Phillips, who was now President of the 
Board of Trustees, was so identified in the public mind 
with the Institution, that his personal correspondence 
and intercourse with the young men and with their 
parents became very extensive. A few years after 
Washington's visit to Andover, and while he was Presi- 
dent of the United States, at his suggestion his nephew, 
William Augustus Washington, sent two sons to the 
Academy, and Charles Lee sent the two sons of his 
deceased brother, Richard Henry Lee ; after a brief 
interval, three more of the Washington family joined 
the school. When Colonel Washington and lady came 
on with their sons. Judge Phillips wrote to Madam 
Phillips : — 

" I hope you will be able to make their time agreeable ; I 
feel powerfully inclined to show every token of respect that 
is proper to the representative of that eminent instrument of 
political salvation to his country. It is not improbable that 
the General means to adopt one or both of the youths bear- 
ing his name, if worthy of it." 

Occasionally remittances were made through the Presi- 
dent, who had interested himself so much in the ar- 
rangement. Among the letters now in our hands, is 

one from his pen, which we here insert, with the reply 

22 



254 



MEMOIR OF 



of Judge Phillips, a memorandum of which is entered 
upon the same sheet : — 

"Mount Vernon, 28th Sept., 179G. 
" Sir. 

The enclosed letter, from my Nephew to me, accompany- 
ing one from him to you (which have been to Philadelphia 
and back), must be my apology for giving you the trouble 
of reading this address. 

I shall only add, that if there are arrearages yet due to 
you, and you will let me know the amount, it shall be re- 
mitted from Philadelphia ; at which place I expect to be by 
the first of November. 

I am. Sir, 

Your Most Obed' H^e Serv*, 

" G° Washington. 
The Hon'^i^ Sam'l PmLLiPS, Esq""." 

"Oct'r 28 '96. 

" Sir. 

I have been honored with your favor of the 28'^ Ultimo, 
enclosing a letter from Col° Washington, in which were 
received one hundred and fifty dollars, and take the liberty 
to enclose an answer. 

You are pleased to authorize me to give you notice of 
any arrears on account of the sons of your Nephew ; it gives 
me pleasure to say, there are none of any consequence now 
due to me. 

With the highest respect, 
I am Sir 

Your Most Obed* 

And very h^^'^ Serv*, 

Samuel Phillips. 
To the President of the United States." 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 255 

The young Washingtons were in the family of Rev. 
Mr. French ; the Lees were with Judge PhiHips, for 
whom, with Madam Philhps and their son, they had 
the warmest regard. The elder of these brothers died 
soon after entering College at Princeton, and in the 
last lines he ever wrote, after speaking of his wishes 
respecting several other friends, he said : — " My friend- 
ship for the Phillips family cannot be buried with me 
in the grave, but it will live with me in the immortal 
life. Perhaps some little article presented to each of 
them, Mr. and Mrs. Phillips and their son, as at my 
request, would please them." A copy of the paper 
left by him containing these parting messages, which 
was sent by his uncle with an account of his last hours 
to Judge Phillips, was carefully preserved, and bears 
this touching indorsement by his hand — "pretious!" 
— so deeply was his heart affected by such expressions 
of attachment. In a letter of Judge Phillips to Mr. 
Lee, written after he had received this paper, there is 
a passage which shows with what spirit in this case, 
as in many others, he interested himself in the pupils 
of the Academy : — 

" The observation," he says, " expressed in your introduc- 
tory letter, that ' one of your principal inducements in send- 
ing him and his brother so far from Virginia and their 
friends, was that they might be brought up in the purest 
principles of religion, morality, and virtue,' accorded so per- 
fectly with my ideas of the essential part of education, that 



256 MEMOIR OF 

I took more pleasure in urging remarks tending to that 
object; the unremitted and serious attention with which 
these remarks were received by our departed friend, height- 
ened the pleasure of the duty ; the satisfaction you are 
pleased to express in the conduct of his education is highly 
grateful ; and the cordial expressions of attachment to our 
family in his last letter to you, will be among the sources 
of our most pleasing reflections through the remainder of 
life." 

Had Judge Phillips been the acting Principal of the 
Academy, and the daily teacher of the pupils, instead 
of a Trustee merely, he could not have used language 
more expressive of his personal activity in guiding 
those who were thus sent to enjoy its advantages. 

And this accords perfectly with his whole habit to- 
ward the students. He had not taken more interest 
in originating the Academy than he now continued to 
take in its daily work. The instructors were selected 
by him with the greatest care, and were stimulated in 
all their duties by his aid. The pupils revered and 
loved him, remembering w^ell, for long years after- 
wards, his kindly looks and paternal counsels, and re- 
peating incidents, without number, illustrative of his 
intercourse with them. It was emphatically his Acade- 
my, the favorite work of his hand, fashioned and ani- 
mated in the highest possible degree by his spirit; 
and as such it stands his noblest monument. 

More than seven hundred pupils were admitted to its 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 257 

course of study, during his own lifetime, among whom 
he could number many who were called to the highest 
stations. And it is but continuing the sketch of his 
enterprise, to add here, that the Academy, thus orig- 
inated and prosperous under his eye, has moved on- 
ward from strength to strength in its career, for a half 
century since he passed away. Largely indebted to 
the later as well as the earlier patronage of the Phillips 
family, and especially to the liberal hand of His Honor 
the late Lieutenant-Governor, William Phillips, and 
attracting to itself a full attendance of pupils, the In- 
stitution has been singularly prosperous. 

We cannot, as we surely would not, here pass over 
the name of His Honor, William Phillips, without a 
brief notice of the impulse which his liberality im- 
parted to the school. The only surviving son of his 
honored father, he succeeded not only to his large for- 
tune, but to his virtues. Of frail constitution and deh- 
cate health in early life, he rose above the consequent 
defects of his education, by the force of a sagacious, 
well-balanced mind, animated by steady religious im- 
pulses. He was the senior of his distinguished cousin 
at Andover by about two years ; and between the two 
there were some strong points of resemblance, as well 
as an affectionate intimacy ; both were intensely patri- 
otic, and made strenuous efforts to promote the Revo- 
lution ; both were specially distinguished for soundness 

22* 



258 MEMOIR OF 

of judgment. Governor Brooks, with whom, as well as 
with Governor Strong, His Honor William Phillips 
was long associated, is said to have remarked, " that in 
all their consultations and deliberations, he had never 
known him to give an erroneous opinion : " both were 
mild and winning in manners, while yet of inflexible 
firmness in their principles ; both were eminently sin- 
cere and unpretending, showing everywhere their real 
character with no glosses ; both were eager patrons of 
sound learning, and of a most devout, religious spirit. 
In 1773, as the Revolutionary contest was thickening, 
while one was entering upon his long career of civil 
service at Andover, the other set sail, from Boston, for 
Eng;land. After an extended tour throus-h Great Britr 
ain, and various countries on the continent, he returned, 
in 1774, in one of the tea ships, and immediately began 
to take part in the councils of the patriots. 

At a later period, he was called to a large experience 
in legislative life : for many years a representative 
from Boston, he was finally chosen Lieutenant-Governor 
of the State in twelve successive elections, during 
which period he was also repeatedly one of the Presi- 
dential electors. 

But, conspicuous as he was as a civilian, both for his 
offices and for the qualities by which he honored every 
office more than it could honor him, he was yet more 
eminent for his leading participation in all the great 
philanthropic and religious enterprises of his day. It 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 259 

was not his money only, nor chiefly, which he freely 
bestowed uj^on such enterprises. They were aided as 
constantly by his far-seeing counsels, and by the whole 
weight of his personal influence. 

At Andover, his very name was a tower of strength. 
Early elected a Trustee, and entering with all his heart 
into the views of his cousin, which he had known mi- 
nutely from the first, he began also early to be a most 
liberal donor to the Institution ; and the long catalogue 
of his gifts is a most animating record. For a period 
of nearly fifteen years he gave five hundred dollars 
annually to aid needy students in the Academy. Prior 
to this, he had made repeated donations in lands and 
books, valued at more than a thousand dollars; and 
while making such large charitable contributions to aid 
the young men, he gave also five thousand dollars 
toward rebuilding the Academy, after it had been 
burnt, and then, in his will, left the Institution a be- 
quest of fifteen thousand dollars. 

Nor were his liberalities at Andover confined to the 
Academy. The Theological Seminary, which the widow 
and son of his revered cousin, with others, had founded 
under the same Board of Trustees with the Academy, 
he also largely aided in his lifetime, and at his death 
left it a legacy of ten thousand dollars. The whole 
amount of his gifts to these institutions, not including 
the invaluable portraits already mentioned, was more 
than forty thousand dollars. With the same liberal 



260 MEMOIR OF 

hand he dispensed his wealth, through a long life, in 
aid of every good cause. 

" 1 confess," said Dr. Wisiier at his funeral, after glancing 
at his career, " that when I consider all these circumstances, 
I look with wonder — and I hope with gratitude to God, 
whose grace made him what he was — at the variety and 
the amount of his charities. They have been for a series of 
years from eight to eleven thousand dollars a year. And by 
his will he has contributed to various benevolent objects, most 
of them religious charities, sLxty-two thousand dollars." ^ 

At his death, which did not take place until a quar- 
ter of a century after Judge Phillips's decease, in May, 
1827, when he was in his seventy-eighth year, there 
were, in every section of the Commonwealth, expres- 
sions of the most hearty sorrow and of the highest 
eulogy.^ An engraving of his portrait, which hangs in 
the Library of the Seminary, is here presented. 

^ Dr. Wisner's Funeral Discourse, p. 31, 32. 

^ It is due to the memory of the four, whose donations have created 
and sustained so important an institution as Phillips Academy, to 
state here summarily, the amount of their several gifts. These are 
as follows, in round numbers : — 

Hon. Samuel Phillips, of North Andover S^l.OOO 

Hon. John Phillips, LL. D., of Exeter 31,000 

Hon. William Phillips, of Boston 6,000 

His Honor, William Phillips, of Boston, to the Academy . . 28,000 

" " " " " to the Seminary . . 14,000 

$85,000 
Others of the family name have also made donations of consid- 



''% 






/ 



260 M E M 

eiised his wealth, through a long hfe, in 

ifess," said Dr. Wi:- wieral, after glancing 

• these circumstances, 

look with V ratitude to God, 

e grace v . am whnt he was — at the variety an J 

the amount of his chan I'hey have been for a series of 

.pnr-; f'-nm ■M-ht to eleven ^h.^n-iniul .IrdlnrA n i'ear. And by 



'if^nth. \"ir k<^ ]}]■ 



tion ui tiie L'OiiitiioJivveail-ii, tsxpretr 
of the most hearty sorrow and of the highest 
eulogy.^' An engraving of his portrait, wliich hangs in 
the Library of the Seminar^^ is here presented, 

" Dr. W'i-iier's Funci -'% p. 3] . 

It is due to the mf'morv of the tour, whose doi 

important an instituli oir Vcademv. to 

iiinarily. the a 
• round 

.,000 



ilhps, or iio^ 



1 .000 



SSd.OOO 
Others of the family name have also made donations of consid- 







sis. t '"'*\ t -ipn^ A 'ifh^, /'\ 








III 




/u//f/ff. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 261 

The plan of Judge Phillips originally contemplated 
the possible, and indeed probable, outgrowth of a Col- 
lege, or of some equivalent institution, from the Acad- 
emy ; and the Constitution was drafted wdth this point 
distinctly in view ; but especially with reference to an 
institution, or to a development of the classical Acad- 
emy itself, which would provide special facilities for 
the study of Divinity. 

One memorable conversation especially which he 
once held with his clerk, Mr. Moses Abbott, as they 
sat under the old oak, now standing just in the rear 
of the Seminary Chapel, is still narrated by his sur- 
viving friend ; in which Judge Phillips pointed out the 
very site of the present Seminary buildings, as the 
probable location of the future College. Treatises upon 
Christianity had long been regular text-books in the 
Academy. Arrangements had also been made for the 
separate instruction of a class of students in Divinity, 
so that, what was not realized until after his death, 
the distinct endowment and opening of a Theological 
Department, was at last most naturally inaugurated by 
his widow and son, as if moved yet by an impulse from 
his own living spirit. 

erable amount, to one or the other of these Institutions, besides the 
large endowment of Madam Phillips and her son, in founding the 
Theological Seminary, which, of itself, was nearly $20,000 ; so that 
a sum total of more than $100,000 has been concentrated here by this 
family ; and its wide spread results are carrying their name to the 
remotest lands, as benefactors of the race. 



262 MEMOIR OF 

But while in its growth, after itself receiving about 
twenty students in Theology, the Academy threw out 
its vital and vigorous offshoot in tliat direction, its 
genius was so elastic, and its foundation so broad, that 
the germ of yet another department in a different 
direction was beginning to appear ; and, in process of 
time, after the legacy of his Honor William Phillips, 
who regarded the project with especial favor, an 
English Department, designed as a Teachers Seminary 
or Normal Hiii;h School, was oro;anized. The intention 
at first was to keep this Department distinct from the 
Classical School, as had been done with the Theological 
Department, and a commodious building was erected 
for its use. But with no endowments, and w^ith an 
inadequate support from its term-bills, although largely 
attended, experience wrought a change in the plan, 
and the Academy has for many years embraced an 
extended course of both Classical and English study 
under one regime, while it continues to give especial 
prominence, as it did when first opened, to instruction 
" in the learned languages." 

Such have been the natural, and almost necessary, 
unfoldings of the comprehensive j^lan of the Founders 
of the Institution. Calling it at first a School merely, 
and not aspiring ever to term it more than an Academy, 
they virtually originated little less than a University 
of the highest type. Not attempting too much at 
once, their sagacious scheme has led especially to a 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 263 

course of Classical and Theological instruction, nowhere 
surpassed now, if equalled, in thoroughness or in 
scholarly symmetry, or in the earnest religious life 
which electrifies it all. 

In the Classical Department a careful register of all 
who have ever been admitted has been kept, and is 
now a volume of very great interest. Nearly four 
thousand pupils have, for a longer or shorter period, 
been thus connected with the Institution, among whom 
are many of the most eminent names of the past 
half century -, while not less than tiventy-seven hun- 
dred have been members of the English Department, 
and from the Theological Department, besides the 
many who have pursued their studies here for a part 
of their professional course, nearly thirteen hundred 
have regularly graduated.^ The spirit and drift of 
the Academy, which after a quarter of a century 
from its orio;in 2:ave birth to the first Theoloo-ical 
Seminary in the world, must be ascribed to Judge 
Phillips, more than to any other person, however far 
from even his best thoughts so broad a scheme as 
was ultimately adopted may have been, and what- 
ever other issues or interests may have arisen to 
modify it. 

As we thus contemplate his life-long efforts for the 
Academy, so persistently prosecuted, so nobly seconded 

■^ See Appendix, M. 



264 MEMOIR OF JUDGE PHILLIPS. 

by Ills family, so successful in all their immediate aims, 
revealing at last in this new form the strong under- 
current of religious power, which had visibly ani- 
mated them from the very beginning, we come natu- 
rally to notice his character and life in yet one more 
essential aspect. 



CHAPTEE XI. 

HIS RELIGIOUS SPIRIT AND EFFORTS. 

To his careful religious training, with its consequent 
early religious tendencies, repeated reference has been 
incidentally made already. He was constitutionally 
susceptible, in a remarkable degree, to such culture, 
whether it sought to mould his conscience or his feel- 
ings. None would accept with more reverence and 
sympathy the heritage of ancestral piety which disr 
tinguished the family with the race of Puritans to 
which they belonged. What these old New England 
Fathers thought and did was always a stirring consid- 
eration with him, to which he often alluded when 
stunulating himself or others. He admired their type 
of character. It was one of his most cherished aims, 
not only to be himself of the same spirit mth them, 
but to do whatever was in his power toward perpetu- 
ating such a spirit in society. 

We have never studied the character of one, among 
the living or the dead, in whom the various forces of 
religion seemed more symmetrically blended. He was 
religious in study, in trade, in neighborly kindness, in 

OO • (265) 



266 MEMOIR OP 

domestic life, in politics, in every civil office, and in his 
zeal to promote learning, as well as in public worship or 
public charities. It was emphatically a religious insti- 
tution, which he was intent upon establishing ; a relig- 
ious vitality which he sought to breathe into all educa- 
tion within its atmosphere. Such we are sure must have 
been the inference of the reader from his various 
papers as they have been here cited : and we have no- 
where found a line in all his manuscripts, or heard a 
word from any who remember him, that does not 
tend to confirm this impression. 

In the place of his residence — from his birth to his 
death — he has left a name for genial, consistent, win- 
ning, zealous piety, more fresh than the memory of his 
highest honors. As the result in part, doubtless, of 
that discipline of sorrow through which the family 
passed in his childhood, and partly of the reiterated 
bereavements aftenvards which he so keenly felt, to- 
gether with his own frequent illness, there was a sub- 
dued tenderness of sensibility in his religion, which 
added to its impressiveness. 

It was with such a charm about him, that he drew 
near to the students, as in the case of young Lee, and 
opened to them the treasures of Heavenly wisdom, 
seeking, in the spirit of a pastor, or a father, to guide 
their feet into the way of peace. With the same ever 
wakeful tact, he often made his correspondence almost 
entirely religious in its tenor ; seizing with avidity 



JUDGK PHILLIPS. 267 



«pon occasions of every kind, which would help him - 
to pour out his full heart with tlie best eftect. 

We have stated that during his confinement at Med- 
ford with liis fractured leg, his cousin, Miss Sally Phi- 
lips, was much with him. It appears from the following 
letters, that on their return to Andover together the 
subject of her uniting with the church was suggested 
to her, and the time of her taking this step was soon 
decided We give now his letters to her on this occa. 
sion, as worthy of special note, not only for their deli- 
cate aptness, as addressed to her, but for the justness 
with which they at the same time commend this duty 
to the young generally. 

Soon after reacliing his home he writes,— 

"Amdover, May 4, 1794. 

«My dear Miss Phillips, -You have this day made a 
public declaration of your belief in, and regard for, the relig- 
ion of the blessed Jesus. Will you permit me in the smcer- 
ity of my heart to congratulate you on this joyful event, - 
an event which has, beyond all doubt, caused much joy m 
heaven as well as on earth. Openly and explicitly to declare 
on the I-ord's side, and in the face of the world to sub- 
scribe with your own hand to his covenant, cannot fail o 
pleasing that Almighty Being, who hath declared, 'before al 
the people I will be glorified :'- for the same reason it 
must give joy to all good beings who come to the knowledge 
of it; -and among the inhabitants of this globe, those who 
feel most interested in your happiness, wiU feel most gratified 



268 MEMOIR OF 

and delighted ; — for, by the same act which does honor to 
religion, and the glorious Founder of it, you take the most 
effectual measure to promote and secure your own peace and 
comfort, usefulness and happiness in this world, and bliss 
everlasting. 

« 

" Such a transaction, duly performed (as I doubt not yours 
has been) by persons of any age or class, tends directly to 
subserve both the important pm'poses above expressed; — but 
when it is performed, in the early part of life, by a person in 
the midst of gay and pleasing scenes, whom friends caress 
and the world flatters, surrounded with objects and under cir- 
cumstances calculated to rivet the affections to the present 
state, and obscure the realities of futurity ; — when this per- 
son is of the tender sex, (who are sometimes restrained by 
mistaken delicacy or unjustifiable diffidence,) possessing an 
uncommon share of sensibility ; — then is signal honor and 
benefit derived to the best of all causes, and peculiar joy 
afforded to all its friends and advocates ; at the same time, a 
foundation is laid for a rich and increasing harvest of bless- 
ings to the happy possessor. 

" These blessings are great and numerous ; — the satisfac- 
tion derived from a reflection on the consequences above 
hinted at is not inconsiderable ; an early public dedication is 
expressive of a consideration and thoughtfulness which does 
credit to any character, and of that filial love and reverence 
which are the best affections of the heart ; it affords a longer 
opportunity of usefulness to mankind, and by example, that 
most powerful of all persuasives, may allure many to similar 
reflections and resolutions. 

" May such be the happy consequence of this day's trans- 
action, and, when your days of usefulness on earth shall be 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 269 

finished, may your spirit be frequently delighted, in the re- 
gions of immortality, with the glorious tidings of the increas- 
ing happy fruits of this example among the children of men ! 
With these wishes (in which Mrs. Phillips very cordially 
joins me) for the present 1 will bid you adieu, after begging 
you to believe that I am 

" Truly your affectionate friend, 

" Samuel Phillips." 

* " Andover, May 14, 1794. 

" My dear Miss Phillips, — Your very obliging favor of 
the 10th instant, afforded me a degree of pleasure that will 
not suffer me to rest easy in delaying to return you my 
hearty thanks for it. . . . After perusing your favor repeat- 
edly, and with increasing satisfaction, it was difficult to de- 
termine which part was the most pleasing, unless it was that 
in which you say, ' upon a late compliance with duty I have 
the most reason I ever had to congratulate myself ; ' — and 
surely the declaration was founded in the highest reason ; for 
to comply with the charge — the dying charge — of a Father 
and a friend, who claims (and most justly too) an infinite 
superiority to every other friend, must afford to the heart of 
pious sensibility, a joy which beggars the power of language 
to describe ; — and how is this joy enhanced, when, by the 
same act which expresses our obedience and fidelity to our 
Divine Master, we receive a most affecting token of his love 
and friendship for us? for, (according to the author you en- 
tertained me with at Medford,) ' when my Lord at the table 
says. Take and eat, this is my body, this is infinitely more and 
better than if a rich man should say to me, take my estate ; 
or than if an emperor should say to me, take my crown and 

23* 



270 MEMOIR OF 

diadem; or than if all the kingdoms of the world and the 
glory of them were ofl'ered me.' 

" The gratitude you express to me on this occasion is too 
generous ; my reward was abundant, and of the highest pos- 
sible value, in the welcome reception you gave to my propo- 
sition and the consequences which have followed. 

" Will you allow me to suggest a caution, which I have con- 
stant need to have more forcibly impressed on my own mind, 
— that we do not ascribe to the instrument that honor and praise 
which are due to the power which actuates it. Let us not in the 
present case, overlook that overruling Providence, which gave 
so favorable an opportunity for entering on such a subject, in 
our journey to Andover — which overcame an embarrass- 
ment on my mind that prevented my introducing it till near 
the close of the journey, although a desire of doing it had 
existed for months before, and particularly at the commence- 
ment of that journey — and which inclined you to give such 
a cordial entertainment to the proposal. Neither should we 
overlook the same universal Ruler, who guided the opera- 
tions of your mind in contemplating the subject, who in- 
fluenced it to the happy result, and smiled on the first attempt 
for executing your purpose. Indeed, every encouraging and 
animating consideration which preceded and attended the 
weighty transaction, and every happifying reflection which 
followed it, are so many claims on our fervent gratitude to 
that all-pervading Spirit, which inspired, sustains, and regu- 
lates the vital principle. . . . 

" I am yours, with great esteem and affection, 

"S. Phillips." 

In all the family correspondence, it is most instruc- 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 271 

tive to notice with wliat spontaneous ease his pen 
turned often from, the business or news of which he 
was writing, to some high religious view or use of his 
topic, or Avas diverted to some kindred strain of ethical 
discussion. Very many of his letters to Madame Phil- 
lips contain passages with regard to the religious in- 
struction of their children, the spirit of which she was 
transfusing into their hearts, while to the children 
themselves, early and late, he was often writing upon 
the same great themes. A most touching letter to his 
younger son, on the occasion of his fifth birth-day, 
which we feel restrained from citing, shows at what a 
tender age that young and pure spirit was preparing 
for its early exit from earth. 

To the elder son he frequently gave invaluable relig- 
ious hints, as he wrote upon other topics ; and on many 
• a special occasion, religion, in some of its most impor- 
tant aspects and claims, was the only theme of his 
communications. Through the entire period of his 
minority, and even after his connection with the 
church and his marriage, the son was thus with the 
tenderest affection kept near to the father's heart. 
The following letters, in addition to those which we have 
cited heretofore, of the same general tenor, may serve 
as an illustration of the spirit of this correspondence ; 
the facts which some of them incidentally disclose in 
his personal and family history, will not be regarded 
as detracting from their excellence, but rather as en- 
hancino; it. 



272 MEMOIR OF 

" Andover, November 24, Sabbath evening, 1793. 

" My dear Son, — Yoiir letter of the 12th and 15th instant 
has been received, and the contents gave me pleasure. . . . 
We have this morning been much affected by the informa- 
tion of the sudden and unexpected death of Deacon Abbott; 
. . . thus we are deprived, in a very affecting manner, of one 
of the best men the town afforded : — what a shock to his 
poor distressed wife and beloved children, to the neighbor- 
hood, to the church, to the town and the public ; — when a 
man of exemplary piety, integrity, prudence, virtue, and gen- 
eral goodness is taiven from among us, how universally is 
the loss felt and lamented. In many instances the rich, the 
mighty, and the honorable leave the stage, while few regret 
the loss of them, and some are glad to succeed them ; but 
when a good man departs, we read sadness in every counte- 
nance, and the serious who survive are prompted to exclaim, 
' Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth, and the faithful fail 
from among the children of men.' What a call to survivors, 
to double their diligence in their Master's service, when we 
see the uncertainty of the event of an hour! 

" Such a family as his was rarely to be met with; — not 
only the heads of it exemplary for the Christian character, 
but all the children treading in their steps ; at every com- 
munion, how pleasing to behold parents and children all 
approaching the altar of the Lord, and with one heart and 
one voice commemorating that wonderful love of the glori- 
ous Saviour which astonishes angels ! Is it not strange that 
these instances are so rare ? Does the blame lie with the 
parents or the children ? probably in most cases with both I 

" I take it to myself, that I have omitted to urge this great 
duty upon the child to whom I am now writing. Let me, 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 273 

then, without losing another hour, seriously ask, my dear 
son, do you not believe yom* lost and undone condition by 
nature, your misery without a Saviour, that the Son of God 
has undertaken the mighty task, that he condescended to 
take our nature, that he obeyed the whole law, that he suf- 
fered and died to purchase your ransom from endless misery ? 
Do you believe the necessity of repentance, love, and new 
obedience, in order to be qualified for enjoying the benefits 
of Christ's purchase ? and is it not your daily prayer and 
labor to obtain these gifts and graces ? If not, what will all 
your other cares, studies, and labors amount to ? How in- 
finitely light and trifling will every attainment, without an 
interest in the blessed Redeemer, appear at the hour of death, 
that honest hotir, which speaks a language that must be 
heard by all the children of Adam, a language which is fre- 
quently sounding in our ears ! 

" That you and I and all of us may be prepared for our 
own turn, which will soon arrive, is the fervent prayer of 
your aflfectionate parent, Samuel Phillips." 

" Andovek, December 17, 1793. 
" My dear Son, — I received your letter of a late date and 
was much pleased with it. . ^ . In this hour of danger, 
remember that " soft words turn away anger ; " and whatever 
provocation you may receive, do nH lose the perfect command 
of yourself, . . . You will not be safer in any situation, 
than in your chamber or study, with your door fastened, and 
your mind intent on your book, unless when you are on your 
knees imploring your infinitely wise and good Father in 
heaven, to direct, preserve, strengthen, and defend you : — ivhat 
a blessed privilege to be admitted to solicit such high favor of 



274 MEMOIR OF 

the King; of King's, with hopes of success, if the supplicant have 
the true spirit of prayer; and when nearest the throne of 
grace, forget not to return humble, fervent thanks, that you 
have been preserved from the vices which have plunged oth- 
ers into so much misery, and also to pray for their repentance 
and reformation. . . . We think much of you and pray for 
you, and hope these trials will issue in your final advantage. 
" I am your affectionate, anxious Parent, 

" S. Phillips." 

The occasion and the effect of such letters as the 
preceding, are indicated by the following brief note 
from an intimate friend of the family, alluding to 
scenes of which we have spoken heretofore, as will be 
remembered, in connection with another portion of the 
family correspondence : — 

" Cambridge, January 1, 1794. 

" Dear Sir, — After fervently wishing a happy new year 
to you and yoiu*s, I take the liberty to thank you for your 
friendly advice. . . . 

" You have doubtless heard of the uncommon scenes, both 
of irregularity and of public censure, which have distin- 
guished the last term at College. The immediate govern- 
ment has exercised the greatest industry, patience, and impar- 
tiality in their inquiries, deliberations, and decisions upon 
these painful subjects ; and we flatter ourselves that our con- 
duct will be sanctioned by the approving voice of the sober 
public, and particularly of the Board of Overseers. 

" I congratulate you on the manly, honorable, and virtuous 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 275 

part which your son, as well as many of his fellow-students, 
has acted, amidst the late scenes of temptation and trial. 
" With sentiments of great esteem, I am. Sir, 

" Your affectionate friend and servant, 

«D. Tappan. 
" Honorable Mr. Phillips." 

Amid all his anxieties respecting the religious state 
of his son, Judge Phillips was cheered by many hopes ; 
and, as in the case of Miss Sally PhilHps, endeavored 
to lead him to a full and public consecration of him- 
self to God, as we see in the ensuing earnest appeal: — 

"Boston, January 26, 1794. 
" My dear Child, — I have been this day celebrating the 
stupendous love of the Divine Saviour, at the feast of the 
supper; and my thoughts were exercised, in no inconsiderable 
degree, for the dear youth to whom I stand in one of the 
nearest relations, and whose spkitual as well as temporal 
happiness I am under the most solemn obligations to pro- 
mote by all proper means in my power ; — I then felt, and 
still feel, a solicitude to know whether any, and if any, what 
effect has been produced by some remarks lately made in 
writing, on the subject of taking upon yourself the bonds of 
the covenant ; to these remarks you replied, that the subject 
of them was under consideration; — do they still remain so, 
or are they dismissed for others of trifling moment, as all 
temporal concerns must be when compared with those which 
respect our future existence? If not dismissed, how does 
the subject appear to you ? Does it not appear reasonable 
to obey the command of our Sovereign — of a Sovereign 



276 MEMOIR OF 

who has given himself up to the sufTerings of death to save 
us from everlasting niisery ? — especially to give the readiest 
obedience to his dying charge ? You feel yourself under 
obligations to obey the commands of your earthly parents, 
and a concern when any instance of disobedience comes to 
our knowledge ; and it is right you should ; but any human 
authority is of little force, compared with that which exists 
with that Supreme Being, who gave us existence, is contin- 
ually upholding us, and withheld not his own most precious 
life to save us. 

" Do you believe, my dear child, that Christ died to save 
sinners ? that endless misery must have been your and my 
portion, inevitably, had it not been for this infinitely costly 
sacrifice ? Do you believe that this sacrifice, costly as it was, 
will be of no avail, unless we become qualified to receive the 
blessings which the Saviour died to purchase, by repentance 
for all om* sins, and that faith in the Redeemer and his Gos- 
pel which shall have a commanding influence over the heart 
and the life, the temper and conversation, the powers of the 
body and affections of the soul, and, in short, over the 
whole man ? This repentance and this faith are God's gift ; 
but he must be sought to, and inquired of, to grant it ; 
if it is not worth praying for, and striving after, it is not 
worth giving. If these gi-aces of repentance and faith are 
not worth praying for, then heaven and the happiness of it 
are not worth praying for. You have every encouragement 
to beg the bestowment of these blessings, for your Heavenly 
Father is perfectly ready and willing to bestow them, if you 
ask aright ; more ready than any earthly parent can be to 
bestow the good things of this life on his dear offspring. If 
you do not possess them, and do n't even desire them, how 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 277 

awfully hazardous your state I What must be your position, 
if called out of time, in such a situation I A serious consid- 
eration of this question is of infinite moment ; no subject of 
consideration is of any moment, compared with this. There- 
fore let me entreat and conjure you, by all the affection and 
authority of a father, to dwell upon the thought, till you find 
the stream of genuine contrition and pious affections to flow 
plentifully. 

" If you do possess these graces, you have the highest rea- 
son to give praise, humble, fervent, unceasing; praise to that 
infinitely merciful God, who has redeemed you with the blood 
of his own Son, and hath given his blessed Spirit to apply 
his redemption. 

" How can you do enough to show forth your gratitude to 
such a Saviour ? Among other tokens of this gratitude, is 
it not highly becoming to commemorate the last tragical 
scene of his sufferings, with his disciples, in the sacrament of 
the supper ? — especially, considering this duty was given in 
command by himself, among the last orders which he deliv- 
ered while on earth. 

" I was charmed to-day \vith the sight of a young family 
of Mr. Salsbury's, all joining with their dear parents in cele- 
brating this feast. How happy, thought I, if our dear chil- 
dren would enable their anxious parents to say to the Al- 
mighty, HERE ARE WE AND THE CHILDREN THOU HAST GIVEN US ! 
If you have difficulties on your mind open them to me freely, 
and I shall delight to assist; and rejoice that you have a 
mighty Counsellor, who invites you to his throne for advice, 
at all times : improve this exalted privilege diligently, and do 
not forget to return some of the prayers which are frequently 
pom-ed out for you by your anxious parent, S. Phillips." 

24 



278 MEMOIR OF 

The occasion of the two followhig letters is indicated 
in the letters themselves. The first, we regret to say, 
is incomplete ; the mannscrijDt in our hands being 
evidently the original outline of the communication, 
without the final revision and concluding paragraphs. 
It is in these words: — 

" Andover, October 17, 1797. 
" ^Finis origine pendet.^ 

" My dear Son, — To-morrow will complete twenty-one 
years of your life. As, at that period, youth are generally 
considered as released from that parental authority which 
they are the subjects of before, it may not be improper to 
offer at this moment some hints, and give you some advice 
dictated by the feehngs of a parent, whose affection gives 
rise to much anxiety for your welfare. 

" You will consider them with that attention which is due 
to the last counsel you will ever receive while (in a legal 
sense) in a state of minority, from one standing in the class 
of relations which is nearer to you than any other on 
earth. 

" As this may be considered one of the most memorable 
eras of your life, I would recommend to you to set apart 
Wednesday, the 18th of October, 1797, for the purpose of 
serious recollection, meditation, humiliation, thanksgiving, 
and prayer; and for adopting those resolutions which that 
occasion will dictate as proper. 

" Although the state of your business may render it in- 
convenient to comply with this advice, yet I can hardly 
realize it to be such as would prevent you from absenting 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 279 

yourself from the store on occasions far less important than 
this. 

" It has been the practice of the best men that ever lived, 
to set apart every anniversary of their birth, as well as other 
days in the year, for purposes similar to those I have men- 
tioned ; and they have given full testimony to the advantage 
they have experienced from the practice. 

" After humbly presenting yourself before the heart-search- 
ing God, and earnestly imploring his direction and benediction 
in the duties before you ; it will be highly proper on that day 
to take a careful and minute review of the past years of yoiir 
life ; and, in doing this, it will be useful to inquire, how you 
have discharged the various duties which have resulted from 
the various relations you have sustained to God as your Crea- 
tor, Preserver, Redeemer, constant and unwearied Benefactor ; 
to your parents and other dear relatives ; to your Instructors 
and governors ; to your superiors, equals, and inferiors ; what 
duties in these several relations have been wholly omitted 
or carelessly performed; and what obligations have been 
violated ; what improvement you have made of time^ espe- 
cially of holy time ; of the various advantages you have 
enjoyed for improving your mind and storing up useful 
knowledge ; for correcting the disorders of your temper, and 
any vicious and irregular propensities ; how far you have 
been influenced by the counsel and instruction that have 
been given to you from the Sacred Volume by your parents, 
by godly ministers, and by friends ; what improvement you 
have made of your various opportunities for getting and 
doing good ; how you have regarded the providences of God, 
not only those of a public nature, but those which respect 
the family of which you are a member, and yourself per- 



280 MEMOIR- OF 

Bonally. If, on such a review, you don't find the humiliation 
I recommend, will there not be reason to fear you have not 
been sufficiently thorough in the examination ? 

" On that day, it will be proper to review the distinguished 
mercies you have received, in your preservation in life to this 
time, in the health you have enjoyed; and may you not 
reckon it in the number of your mercies, that your parents 
have been spared to watch over, to advise and counsel you, 
through the precipitate years of youth, even unto manhood. 

" You will consider,, my dear son, the circumstances of 
your lot have been uncommonly favorable ; your life thus 
far has been devoted to improvement ; you have had a suc- 
cession in general of uncommonly able and faithful Instruc- 
tors from your early childhood ; you have had no material 
avocations to divert your attention from useful studies. Your 
advantages have been great, and (except in a father who 
this day laments, in tears, his numerous defects in duty to- 
ward you, both in precept and example) may I not say they 
have been equalled by few, and surpassed scarcely by any ; 
and forget not the goodness of Heaven in preserving you 
from gross immoralities, amid the snares and temptations 
that have attended your youth, and the situations of danger 
in which you have been placed, and which have proved fatal 
to others. Restraining and rescuing influences are too little 
tliought of by most. 

" That you have been disposed, at an early period, to make 
a public surrender of yourself to your Maker, and subscribe 
with your hand to his Covenant, is a further cause of thank- 
fulness. As your cup has overflown with mercies, let your 
heart overflow with gratitude to the infinite Source of them 
all. Much fruit, then, may justly be expected from you by 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 281 

God and man, and your own conscience will justify the 
demand. 

" After spending a suitable portion of time in reviewing 
the past, and in those exercises of mind which that review 
wUl suggest, you will judge whether it is not a very seasona- 
ble duty to make a renewed, solemn, and unreserved dedi- 
cation of yourself, and of all your powers and faculties, of 
all that you have and are to your Heavenly Father ; and to 
implore his direction and guidance in forming suitable reso- 
lutions for the time to come. The 17th chapter in Dod- 
dridge's Rise and Progress, will be of great use to you in 
such a work. 

" You will remember, my son, that all your pursuits must 
be regulated by a supreme regard to the Divine honor. Let 
the fear and love of Jehovah possess your heart, dictate 
every purpose, and influence every action. This fear, we 
are taught by inspiration, is the beginning of wisdom ; with- 
out this foundation all your superstructure will be as wood, 
hay, and stubble. Possessing this filial fear, you will serious- 
ly resolve to begin and close every day of your life with 
the most solemn acts of devotion. If the blessings of Provi- 
dence and grace are not worth asking, they are not worth 
bestowing ; and what day of your life is there in which you 
do not need them. 

" You will, doubtless, judge it reasonable to make it part 
of your plan, to read some portion of Scripture at those 
stated periods ; and, that you may read them to more ad- 
vantage, I now present you with Henry's Exposition of the 
Old and New Testament, and Doddridge's Exposition of 
the latter. The first of these books w^as estimated by a late 
pious deceased friend and relative, (from whose prayers you 

24* 



282 MEMOIR OF 

and I have doubtless reaped unknown benefits,) to be of 
more value than gold, yea, than much fine gold. In these 
volumes, if read in a proper temper of mind, will be found 
inestimable treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Let them 
be the man of your counsel at all times. The proverbs of 
Solomon can't be too often consulted ; they will form the 
richest furniture with which your mind can be stored, for 
every situation, condition, and relation of life. They con- 
tain, as Mr. Henry observes, in a little compass, a com- 
plete body of Divine ethics, politics, and oeconomics : and 
whensoever reading the sacred Scriptures, we ought to 
consider ourselves as in the more immediate presence of the 
great God ; and if we do n't pay a serious regard to him, 
when speaking to us in his word, how can we expect him to 
regard our petitions to him ? These books, my son, are the 
best estate I can give you. 

" If the want of time be offered as an objection to the exe- 
cution of such a plan, may it not be asked whether we can 
justify the denial of a small portion of our time to the ser- 
vice of him who gives us all the time we enjoy, and who can 
with the utmost ease cut short or protract our days, accord- 
ing to his ow^n sovereign pleasure ? and what benefits can 
result fi-om any business, that will counterbalance the advan- 
tages to be hoped for from the appropriation of a small por- 
tion of our time to such a purpose ? 

" If company at any time interfere, what company will 
make amends for the loss of a humble, solemn interview with 
the Sovereign of the universe, who exercises infinite conde- 
scension in inviting us into his presence ? By husbanding 
our time properly, we shall Jiot find it difficult to gain a 
small portion of it, at the beginning and close of each day. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 283 

for the discharge of this important duty : and here let me 
recommend a careful perusal of the 19th chapter in Dr. 
Doddridge's 'Rise and Progress,' containing directions how 
we should be in the fear of God all the day long, with a 
serious resolution to come as near to the plan there proposed 
as possible. 

" But of all your time, be persuaded, my son, to entertain 
the firmest resolution, that you will pay the strictest regard 
to the holy Sabbath. The injunctions of Scripture are often 
repeated, and very solemn, on this head ; and your improve- 
ment in the most valuable of all knowledge, your progress 
in virtue and piety, and your usefulness to others, will depend 
much, very much indeed, on your discharge of this duty. 
On account of your vicinity to the metropolis, you will be a 
witness to a melancholy disregard of holy time. On this 
account, your guard ought to be much increased, to prevent 
your respect for that day being insensibly diminished, and in 
order that your example may contribute to stem the torrent 
of impiety, which is breaking in upon us like a flood, and 
threatens the judgments of Heaven upon our country. 

" To regulate your dealings with others, you can't propose 
to yourself a better rule than that of our Saviour, in Matthew 
vii. 12, — ' all things whatsoever ye would that men should 
do to you, do ye even so to them ; ' you will often call to 
mind that comprehensive injunction in Micah vi. 8, — 'to do 
justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God,' — and 
what more ' doth the Lord require of thee ? ' 

" Let me earnestly recommend the cultivation of a meek 
and humble frame of mind. The more attention will be 
necessary to acquire and preserve these virtues, if a state of 
worldly prosperity should attend you; because the natural 



284 MEMOIR OF 

tendency of such a state is to inflate the mind with pride. 
We ought to remember that a state of prosperity very often 
proves unfriendly to virtue ; and the Divine caution, ' let him 
that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall,' should be 
ever in mind. What higher inducement can be given us to 
cultivate meekness, than to be assm-ed that ' the meek he 
(the Lord) will guide in judgment ; the meek he will teach 
his way,' — and that ' the ornament of a meek and quiet 
spirit is, in the sight of God, of great price.' The highest 
reason have we then to labor, that we may be clothed with 
humility. . . ." 

"My ever honored and beloved Father, — The eighteenth 
of October, 1797, has introduced a set of ideas which I never 
before felt. Your letter, which I esteem the most valuable 
fortune you can give me, while it impresses on my mind an 
idea of the importance of the era which I have now reached, 
and with a firm belief that my future happiness and useful- 
ness will depend on my setting out, inspires me with increased 
affection and respect for the hand that penned and the heart 
that dictated it. May the precepts it contains be indelibly 
engraven on my mind ! for they only can insure my present 
and future happiness. 

" My intention has been to endeavor on this day to express 
my filial gratitude for the former unremitted care, tenderness, 
and anxiety of my parents, who are nearer and dearer to me 
than any other beings on earth ; but my feelings will not per- 
mit me. The only alteration that the day produces in my 
situation is, that it devolves on me an increased responsibility. 
Hitherto I have leaned on my parent's reputation, and have 
in every instance wherein I could know his will, been guided 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 285 

thereby. Now I only am answerable for my every action, — 
but shall ever feel the same veneration for their opinion I 
ever have done, and still feel in a state of minority as far as 
relates to them. This day I have been engaged in the man- 
ner which you recommended : I have received Dr. Dod- 
dridge's Exposition of the New Testament, and one volume 
of Mr. Henry, for which I am thankful, and promise that 
want of time shall not be an excuse for my neglecting a daily 
application to them. 

" I have now, sir, to make one earnest request ; which is, 
that you would not consider me as freed from your authority 
until I shall cease to be the object of your parental affection, 
— that I may still have those rules of conduct repeated, which 
had so much influence in helping me to avoid the almost 
fatal temptations of a college life. 

" I will conclude, at present, by earnestly praying, that the 
lives, happiness, and usefulness of my earthly parents, may 
be the peculiar care of my Father in Heaven, and that his 
assisting grace may enable me to follow through my life 
the precepts of their lips exemplified by their conduct. 

" I am, with increasing respect, your dutiful son, 

"John Phillips. 

" The Honorable Samuel Phillips." 

" Andover, January 1, 1800, 3 o'clock ia the morning. 

" My deak Son, — On this first morning of a New Year, 
I awoke early ; and the activity of my mind having banished 
sleep from my eyes, I rose and betook myself to such exer- 
cises as are proper for the season. 

" Influenced by the example of those whose characters I 
revere, as well as by a conviction of the utility of the prac- 



286 MEMOIR OF 

tice, I have heretofore aimed to appropriate a more than 
'usual share of the first day of the year, as well as the anni- 
versary of my birthday, to such exercises as were adapted 
to qualify me better to answer the end of my creation. I 
hoj5e I have derived some advantage from the practice ; it 
would doubtless have been greater, had not I been too remiss 
in performing the duty, and too unmindful afterwards of the 
purposes formed at these seasons. 

" The present period appears to call for more close atten- 
tion to every religious duty than any we have seen ; and one 
object of this letter, is to invite you to join me this day in 
the exercises I have mentioned ; and though we are not in 
the same house, or in the same society, let us kneel before 
the same Throne to lament and beg forgiveness for our past 
defects, neglects, and transgressions ; and to implore Divine 
mercy for ourselves and each other, for our families, for our 
friends and connections, for our mourning and threatened 
country, and for a convulsed world. 

" We shall find ample field for a long day's close, unin- 
terrupted employment ; and though cares and business may 
strive to intrude and divert our attention from the duty pro- 
posed, let us summon up a holy resolution to appropriate 
this day to the more immediate service of the all glorious 
Being who is Lord of all our time. 

" Let us begin with imploring the Divine presence, direc- 
tion, and benediction on the exercises of the day ; then read 
some portion or portions of the Sacred Scriptures that are 
proper for the occasion; afterwards apply ourselves solemnly 
to the duty of serious meditation and reflection, self-exami- 
nation, humiliation, and prayer. This will be a proper season, 
also, to renew our dedication of ourselves to the special 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 287 

service of our Divine Master; and let us not fail, in his 
strength, to form such resolutions as a review of our past* 
lives suggests to be needful, such as shall tend to make us 
better men, better husbands, better parents, better heads of 
families, better members of society, and better Christians. 

" It will increase the solemnity and utility of the work, 
if we commit as many of our thoughts as we can to writing. 
This will be quite necessary for our resolutions, that we may 
frequently review them, and see how far we have fulfilled 
them. 

" An agreeable and profitable variety may be made by read- 
ing some pertinent sermons or other tracts ; the sermons of the 
pious Mr. Foxcroft, on the last and first day of the year, which 
I put into your hands yesterday, I have repeatedly read with 
much satisfaction, and, hope with some profit. Doctor Dod- 
dridge's Rise and Progress furnishes more chapters than one 
that may be useful on this occasion. The Book of Psalms 
abounds with matter, admirably adapted to excite, direct, and 
animate our devotion. An observation of the day by fast- 
ing is recommended by the experience and example of many 
worthies ; at least, an abstinence from our usual quantity 
of food and drink appears to me will be highly proper and 
beneficial. 

" If you approve of my proposition, you will probably 
order a fire in the most retired chamber, and give notice to 
suitable persons in your family, that your engagements to- 
day don't admit of interruption, unless upon some very 
special occasion. And let us engage in these exercises with 
a seriousness and devotion becoming those who are utterly 
uncertain whether we shall have leave to unite in similar 
duties on another New Year's day ever again on earth. 



288 MEMOIR OF 

" Wishing you and your dear consort may enjoy many 
years more useful and happy than any that have passed, 
with best wishes for your mamma and beloved offspring, 
" I am yom- affectionate father, Samuel Phillips." 

" Andover, January 1, 1800. 

" My honored Father, — I have received your excellent 
letter of this morning. It witnesseth that the virtues and 
piety of the fathers have descended to the offspring; and O 
that the example of both might be imitated by the children's 
children ! To this end I will endeavor to pass this day in 
the manner recommended in your letter. 

" May He who giveth the increase so bless our endeavors, 
so strengthen us, and all who this day form virtuous pur- 
poses, to perform them in such a manner that harvests of 
honor may arise to himself, and our own happiness and 
usefulness be increased. 

" Be pleased. Sir, to offer our duty to my honored niajama, 
and accept the same through your ever dutiful son, 

" John Phillips, Jr." 

"Andover, January 4, 1801. Sabbath Eve. 

" My dear Son, — Having arrived to the first Sabbath of 
a New Year and of a new century, I have been reviewing 
some of the past scenes and occurrences of my life ; and 
the review affords me ground for deep humiliation, as well 
as for admiration, gratitude, and praise. 

" Among the numberless causes for unfeigned self-abase- 
ment, I may enumerate neglects of duty to my Maker, my 
fellow-creatures, especially my family, and to myself; and 
have great reason to lament, that 1 have improved time to no 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 289 

better purpose, and that I have no better answered the design 
of my creation. 

" Without being particular under each class, I might state 
a long catalogue of family duties which have not been dis- 
charged, as they ought to have been ; and I here record my 
hearty regrets, tJierefore, to you, my dear son, that you may 
take warning from my errors, and lay a foundation for more 
agreeable reflections in the future periods of your life. To 
this end, let me urge you to remember that the duties of 
heads of families are numerous and very solemn. 

" Their duties to each other, — to love, comfort, support, 
and encourage each other in every thing virtuous and praise- 
worthy, as well as to watch over, admonish, advise, and guard 
against every thing unbecoming the Christian profession, are 
solemn indeed. Those whom Providence has brought into 
the tender relation of husband and wife, have far greater 
advantages for promoting each others' spiritual as well as 
temporal felicity, than any other created beings. They ought 
frequently to bear in mind that sooner or later they must 
part ; not unfi-equently they are called to this distressing trial 
much sooner than they expected, and sometimes suddenly. 
What anguish must fill the mind of the survivor, if the re- 
flection should arise that any thing has been neglected to 
preserve or reclaim from error, or to stimulate and encourage 
in duty I 

" When Heaven bestows the blessing of children, new ob- 
ligations, and those of the most serious nature, are brought 
with them. To provide for their comfortable support is not 
the greatest, although this calls for our industry, care, and 
economy, and the necessity for these increases with the in- 
crease of our families ; but to use our utmost vigilance and 

• 25 



290 MEMOIR OF 

diligence to regulate their tempers, to instruct them in the 
principles and duties of the Christian religion, and duly to 
impress them with a sense of their infinite moment, is as 
much more important than any thing which relates merely 
to the present life, as eternity is longer than time. 

" For the discharge of these duties, the Author of our na- 
ture has given to parents special advantages, — particularly 
by impressing on the minds of children that awe, reverence, 
and respect for their parents, which they feel toward no other 
mortal. Indeed, the Creator seems, in some sort, to have 
made parents his substitutes, to form, mould, and train up 
their offspring for glory. 

" This remarkable and universal impression upon the minds 
of children, and which rarely ceases, especially through the 
years of minority, where the precepts, deportment, and exam- 
ple of parents are such as to justify it, proves more forcibly 
than a thousand arguments their obligation to improve this 
influence for the honor of its Author, and their high account- 
ability for the manner of their using it. Next to our chil- 
dren, those of our household claim our inspection, instruction, 
and example, to restrain or recover them from the paths of 
sin, and to guide and establish them in the ways of piety 
and virtue. 

" To discharge these duties to the tolerable satisfaction of 
our own minds, we have need to labor, and watch, and strive, 
and pray, not only in private, but with our families, without 
ceasing. 

" Indeed those who neglect a regular, daily, and devotional 
acknowledgment of the Supreme Being, with their families, 
not only forfeit the Divine direction, support, and blessing, 
where they most need it, but deprive themselves of the best 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 291 

argument to enforce any religious or moral instruction. May 
I not add, that those who live in the neglect of this duty ex- 
pose themselves to the charge of hypocrisy in the view of 
their children and domestics, whenever they inculcate any 
vu'tuous instructions ? For may they not with reason ask, 
in their own hearts, if they do not openly state the question, 
with what propriety do you urge upon us duties under the 
authority of a Being whose authority you do not ac- 
knowledge ? 

" Indeed, those who neglect family prayer, seldom subject 
themselves to this charge, for with this they generally fall 
into the neglect of most other religious duties of the family. 
And for these neglects, among other sins, it is my seri- 
ous belief the Almighty has been, and is now, holding the 
rod of his anger over us, and that we shall feel the weight 
of it, unless we reform. 

" It affords me unspeakable satisfaction to be a witness, 
that yours was not in the dark catalogue of prayerless fam- 
ilies. Having begun well in this respect, it is my humble, 
fervent prayer, that no considerations of business, pleasure, 
ease, or company, may ever tempt you to omit this daily ac- 
knowledgment of our dependence on the Supreme Being. 
Business has sometimes so incumbered me, that I have found 
it difficult to command time for the performance of the duty ; 
but let us carefully weigh the importance of that business 
which will justify our neglecting the best interests of our 
own souls, and the souls of our children and domestics, and 
risking their everlasting perdition. 

" Order in our arrangements, so essential for every other 
purpose, is particularly so to prevent disappointment or em- 
barrassment here. Until the close of life, or very near it, my 



292 MEMOIR OF 

honored parents devoted their first attention, after the family- 
had risen, to this duty ; and always rose at an early hour 
when they were well. But if no opportunity ottered before, 
the family were generally collected together immediately after 
breakfast, and it is easier to retain than to collect them after 
they are dispersed. It is, however, far better to perform the 
duty with a small portion of the family, when more cannot 
be obtained, than to omit it. If people are waiting on busi- 
ness, they will think it as reasonable to allow a little time to 
pay your acknowledgments to your Maker, as for refreshing 
your nature. If they do not, it is no matter how little con- 
cern you have with such characters. If the duty or the re- 
freshment must be omitted, is it not far safest to deny our- 
selves, at least curtail, the latter ? Sometimes persons in 
waiting have been invited to join in this devotion, and have 
been glad of the opportunity ; and whether they join or not, 
who can tell what blessed effects may result from the ex- 
ample ! 

" The presence of visitors, particularly those of respecta- 
bility in the view of the world, and especially if they were 
disposed to think lightly of the duty, has sometimes, in the 
earlier part of my life, put my fortitude to the trial ; — but 
that awful denunciation of our Saviour in the 38th verse of 
the 8th chapter of Mark, ' whosoever shall be ashamed of 
me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, 
of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he com- 
eth in the glory of his Father with the holy angels,' has 
caused me to shudder at the thought of being restrained by 
the fear of man. 

" The venerable ancestor from whom our family proceeded, 
the Reverend George Phillips, (who arrived in Charlestown 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 293 

in the year 1630, and afterwards settled and died in the min- 
istry in the town of Watertown,) was eminent for piety, and 
has been handsomely spoken of for his literature. It is writ- 
ten of him, that he commonly read the Bible through six 
times in a year, and through four generations from him to my 
father, and including him, I trust that a good portion of the 
spirit of their progenitor descended. I can fully testify that 
the two last, namely, my father and grandfather, with their 
consorts, were remarkably constant in their devotions, both 
of the family and closet ; and my mother informed me that 
she never knew my father to omit family prayer, when he 
was well and at home, but once from the time he began to 
keep house, although he was for many years much engaged 
in business both public and private. 

" Who can tell how many blessings the prayers of our 
pious ancestors have procured for their descendants ! Let us, 
my dear son, be equally faithful even unto death, to our 
God, to ourselves, and to those who shall be born after us. 
Greatly aggravated will be our condemnation, if we should 
degenerate with such examples before us. Should we ever 
be left to such a woful defection, (which God forbid ! ) what 
reason will our posterity have to upbraid us therefor I 

"December 5, 1801. 
" The foregoing was written at the time of its date, but 
want of health and unforeseen events prevented my finishing 
the letter, or even copying what was written. Fearing longer 
to delay communicating the thoughts which were penned 
upon a subject which has excited many painful reflections on 
my pillow, and at other times, I have asked your honored 
mother to finish copying what I had begun. 

25* 



294 MEMOIR OF 

" When I began the copy, I left a margin, with a view, if 
I should communicate my thoughts on other subjects, that 
you might easily connect the letters, if you judged them 
worth preserving ; but as it is very doubtful whether I shall 
ever be able to write you again on any subject of moment, 
you will pay^ such regard to this as the importance of the 
subject demands. 

" With most anxious solicitude for the happiness of your- 
self, your beloved spouse, and dear offspring, both here and 
hereafter, I am Your affectionate parent, 

" Samuel Phillips." 

The spirit of Christian solicitude and fidelity which 
thus, to the last, poured out its full tide around his 
son, as it did in other forms about the daily path of the 
students in the Academy, made Judge Phillips also a 
pillar in the church of which he was a member. After 
his removal to the South Parish, and the transfer of 
his connection from the North to the South Church, 
his hand and heart were with his pastor in every good 
work. It was throuo-h his influence that Mr. French 
had settled here. They were not only class mates, but 
congenial spirits ; and it was with a warm personal re- 
gard, as well as Christian interest, that Judge Phillips 
cooperated with him in his ministry. 

For many years he was active in sustaining the 
practice of reading to the people at noon on the Sab- 
bath ; even after his health became greatly enfeebled, 
he would still tarry and read for the hour from some 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 295 

favorite doctrinal or devotional treatise, and by his 
zealous example and his dying requests he left such an 
impression of the importance of this exercise, that it 
was continued for a long period afterwards. So when 
perplexmg cases of discipline occurred, or when excit- 
ing discussions in the church or parish arose, though 
never a partisan, but always a peacemaker, his course 
was uniformly a rebuke to the lax and the factious. 
The building of the new church soon after Mr. French's 
settlement, was so hotly contested, that it came near 
dividing the parish ; yet with friends in both parties. 
Judge Phillips, little leisure as he had for such work, 
was made chairman of the building committee, and 
managed the whole affair so dispassionately as to sat- 
isfy all with himself, if not with the project. 

In his day ministers were usually " settled for life." 
But with all his conservatism he was an innovator. 
His fertile mind was intent upon improvements ; upon 
discussing principles and devising schemes, which would 
break in salutarily upon the old order of things. 
Sometimes his best friends, and especially his father 
and uncles, who were yet sure to second his projects, 
would hint that he had a little too much of the spirit 
of what we, in our day, term " Young America." Proverb 
as he was for caution, his foresight seemed to them a 
species of adventurousness. Thus, as early as the year 
1788, we find him elaborately discussing with his uncle 
at Exeter, the question whether " the interests of re- 



206 MEMOIR OF 

ligion and the general good might not be advanced, by 
removing gentlemen of the clergy from places of less 
to those of greater consequence in particular cases." 
The views which he expresses are intermingled Avith so 
many personal matters, that we cannot properly quote 
them; but they show with what care he was accus- 
tomed, like a judge, to sum up such cases of interest to 
the public, and state all their important bearings, far in 
advance of any existing public sentiment. When a 
council was convened in 1792 at Newbury, in the case 
of his friend Dr. Tappan's call from that church to the 
Professorship of Divinity at Cambridge, he attended as 
delegate with his pastor, and assisted in adjusting the 
very delicate questions which were mooted. 

Among the schemes which are most characteristic of 
him, and which show in the strongest light how his 
mind would link the future with the present, or his 
growing country with his native village, the Charitable 
Donations which were made by him, in the following 
instruments, stand conspicuous : — 

" Wishing to contribute to the promotion of Christian 
knowledge and piety a part of the substance wherewith God 
has blessed me, and out of respect and affection to my native 
town, I, Samuel Phillips, of Andover, in the county of 
Essex, and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Esquire, do 
make the following donation, for the purposes hereinafter 
mentioned, and I do hereby direct my heirs, executors, and 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 297 

administrators, within one year after my decease, to pay to 
the Trustees of Phillips Academy in Andover, or their suc- 
cessors in office, the sum of one thousand dollars, in trust for 
the purposes hereinafter mentioned ; to the payment of 
which, well and truly to be made, I bind my heirs, executors, 
and administrators firmly by these presents : 

" The said sum to be by the Trustees aforesaid and their 
successors always kept out at interest upon good security, 
and the interest thence arising to be disposed of in the man- 
ner following, namely : one sixth part to be annually added 
to the principal sum for ever; and the other five sixth parts to 
be laid out in the purchase of the following books, namely : — 
Dr. Doddi-idge's Address to the Master of a Family on ^Fam- 
ily Religion, the Westminster Assembly's Shorter Catechism, 
Dr. Watts's Divine Songs, Dr. Hemmenway's Discourse to 
Children ; and, when the income shall permit, Dr. Doddridge's 
Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul, and other like 
pious writings, to be by the said Trustees and their succes- 
sors as aforesaid, or by a committee of their appointment, 
distributed among the inhabitants, who do now or may 
hereafter reside within the present boundaries of the said 
town of Andover. 

" That is to say, the aforesaid Address to the Master of a 
Family on Family Religion to be given to every young man 
who may be about to enter into the family state, and to such 
others being already heads of families, as to them shall seem 
best ; and the other books aforesaid to be annually distrib- 
uted in such manner as to the said Trustees shall appear 
best calculated to promote the pious design of said Treatises, 
and the real object of this appropriation; and in the said 
distribution, it is desired, that the friendly advice and assist- 



298 MEMOIR OF 

ance of the Congregational Ministers within the limits afore- 
said may be requested. 

" And whenever, in process of time, the income of said fund 
shall, in the judgment of the said Trustees or their successors 
as aforesaid, be more than sufficient to supply the several 
families within the limits aforesaid, and the said families shall 
in fact have been so supplied, the surplus of said income to 
be applied, at the discretion of the said Trustees and their 
successors as aforesaid, to the use of Phillips Academy afore- 
said, and the further promotion of the pious designs of the 
honorable Founders thereof. 

" And it is requested that the aforesaid sum, when paid, 
and the interest thereon from time to time received, together 
with the whole disposition and distribution of the same be 
fairly entered in a book of record, for this purpose provided, 
and ever open to the inspection and perusal of all men. 

" In witness of all which I have hereunto set my hand 
and seal, this twelfth day of December, in the year of our 
Lord one thousand eight hundred and one. 

" Signed, sealed, and deUvered, SaMUEL PhILLIPS. 

in presence of 

" Francis L. Lee, 

" Amos Blanchard, Jr." 



" Being desirous, in addition to the appropriation made 
in an instrument, bearing date December twelfth, in the year 
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and one, of con- 
tributing still farther of the substance wherewith God hath 
blessed me, to the pious education of young children in my 
native town ; and also to a more extensive diffusion of relig-- 
ious knowledge and Evangelical piety., I, Samuel Phillips of 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 299 

Andover, in the County of Essex, and Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts, Esquire, do now make another donation for 
the purposes hereinafter mentioned ; and I do hereby direct 
my heirs, executors, and administrators, within one year after 
my decease, to pay to the Trustees of Phillips Academy in 
Andover, or their successors in office, the sum of four thou- 
sand dollars in money or in private notes of hand, with such 
securities as the said Trustees shall fully approve, in trust for 
the purposes hereinafter mentioned ; to the payment of 
which, well and truly to be made, I bind my heirs, executors, 
and administrators firmly by these presents. 

" The said sum to be by the Trustees aforesaid and their 
successors always kept out at interest on good security, and 
the interest thence arising to be disposed of in the manner 
following; to wit: one sixth part to be ever hereafter an- 
nually added to the principal for an increasing capital sum ; 
and the other five sixth parts of the interest of the said 
capital sum to be laid out in the manner following ; that 
is to say, the five sixth parts of the interest arising from 
one fourth part of the aforesaid capital sum, to be appro- 
priated and applied, according to the best judgment of the 
said Trustees, partly for rendering those females who may 
be employed as instructors in the several District Schools, 
within the aforesaid Town of Andover, better qualified for 
the discharge of their delicate and important trust ; and 
partly for extending the term of their instruction in such 
districts within the said town, as, notwithstanding the pro- 
vision therefor annually made by said town, may stand 
in most need of additional aid ; provided always, that this 
additional aid shall in no one year be given to more than 
one third part of the whole number of districts within the 
present boundaries of the aforesaid town of Andover ; and 



300 MEMOIR OF 

the five-sixth parts of the interest, arising from the other 
three-fourth parts of the aforesaid capital sum, to be appro- 
priated and a]i})lied in tlie following manner, to wit : for 
procuring the following books, namely. Bibles, Testaments, 
and Psalters ; the Westminster Assembly's Shorter Cate- 
chism, Dr. Watts's Divine Songs for Children, Dr. Hemmen- 
way's Discourse to Children, Dr. Doddridge's Address to the 
Master of a Family on Family Religion, his Sermons on the 
Religious Education of Children, his Rise and Progress of 
Religion in the Soul, Law's Serious Call to a Devoted and 
Holy Life, Mason's Treatise on Self-Knowledge, Henry's 
Discourse concerning Meekness, and Orton's Discourse to 
the Aged, together with other like pious books, as the income 
of the said capital sum, agreeably to the aforementioned ap- 
portionment may permit; to be distributed by the said Trus- 
tees and their successors, or by a committee or agents of 
their appointment, among poor and pious Christians not 
belonging to the aforesaid town, to whom such writings may 
be peculiarly gi-ateful, and also among the inhabitants of 
new towns and plantations or other places, where the means 
of religious knowledge and instruction are but sparingly 
enjoyed, in such manner as the Trustees in their wisdom and 
prudence may think best calculated to promote the object 
of this donation. 

" And to enable the said Trustees and their successors in 
office to form the most correct opinion of the proper object 
of this donation, they are respectfully desired to request the 
necessary information of pious ministers of religion in dif- 
ferent parts of the country. It is also requested, that the 
said sum first above mentioned, when paid, and the interest 
thereon from time to time received, together with the whole 
disposition and distribution of the same, be fairly entered in 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 301 

a book of record, for this purpose provided, and ever open to 
the inspection and perusal of all men. 

" And it is farther requested, that the said Trustees and 
their successors, as aforesaid, in all future time, may ever 
bear in mind that the principal object of this donation, is the 
preservation of the essential and distinguishing doctrines of 
the Gospel, as professed by our pious ancestors, the first set- 
tlers of New England, and of such writings as are consenta- 
neous thereto ; above all, it is ardently hoped and expected, 
that in their selection of books for the distribution aforesaid, 
all possible care will be taken by the Trustees aforesaid, to 
guard against the dissemination of the least particle of Infi- 
delity, or Modern Philosophy ; and also against the disper- 
sion of such Theological treatises, or speculations, as tend 
to undermine the fundamental principles of the Gospel plan 
of salvation, or to reduce the Christian religion to a system 
of mere morality ; without which guard there will be great 
reason to fear that the object of this donation will be totally 
frustrated. 

" Confiding, however, in the wisdom and fidelity of the 
said Trustees, I cheerfully commit the execution of the de- 
sign of this donation, as herein expressed, to their pious care, 
and the success of it to the blessing of Almighty God, 
whose gracious smiles are, through the Mediator, humbly 
implored on it and them. 

" In witness of all which, I have hereunto set my hand and 
seal, this twenty-seventh day of January, in the year of our 
Lord one thousand eight hundred and two. 

"Signed sealed and delivered SaMUEL PhILLIPS. 

Ill ^lcscUC6 Ox 

" Samuel Farrar, 
" Amos Blajstchard, Jr." 

26 



302 MEMOIR OF 

In these unpretending donations, we have the whole 
system of our modern tract societies and systems of 
colportage for the circulation of religious volumes in 
miniature, long before such organizations were thought 
of Nor has this pioneer enterprise of his sagacious 
mind done of itself a trivial work, although in some 
measure overshadowed by these associations. 

The trust has been most religiously discharged. 
The schools of Andover are every year materially 
aided from the. income of his fund. Valuable books 
have been often distributed to every family in the 
town, at as short intervals as the fund would allow, and 
over large sections of New England, and of the terri- 
tory westward, the work of scattering a great variety 
of religious volumes has been and continues to be 
prosecuted, sometimes by private agency, sometimes 
through the channel of other religious associations, 
while the fund itself has been steadily augmenting for 
a similar mission in the future. 

We speak of these donations, so carefully directed 
with a view to the attainment of such a variety of 
objects, present or remote, as eminently characteristic 
of him. So in fact was every project in which we find 
him engaged. Few men would have struck the golden 
veins which he so assiduously worked, — fewer still 
would have pursued his method, or have breathed the 
spirit which stirred him, in his chosen life-work. For, 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 303 

although he was one of the most symmetrical of men, 
having nothing in excess and no glaring defect, his 
individuality was remarkable in many particulars ; and, 
in all, it was but the many-sided bodying forth of his 
deep religious principle. 

We have not been able to discover a trait or an 
incident in his career, which has not seemed to us the 
product of his religion more than of any thing else. 
He was not the great and good man whom we revere 
by the force mainly of rare circumstances, or of genial 
impulses, or of a mechanical conformity with models 
before him 3 but, with the help of God, "by patient 
continuance in well doing." Frail in childhood, amid 
the graves of all his brothers and sisters, and an invalid 
ever afterwards, he seemed daily to hear the admoni- 
tion, ^'"whatsoever iliy hand findeth to do^ do it with thy 
might : " and it is in the light of his religious faith, or 
as the forms in which his religious principle clothed it- 
self, that we must weigh his peculiarities. 

Thus, he ivas intensely methodical and careful. Men who 
attempt to do so much are usually negligent of minu- 
tiae ; but if he had measured all the ground he ever 
went over, inch by inch, he could not have been more 
particular. Any one of his hundreds of manuscripts 
now extant, taken up at random, would be an illustra- 
tion of this trait. He erased, he interlined, he changed 
the collocation of words or paragraphs, he put in after- 



304 MEMOIR OF 

thoughts and side-thoughts, in a common family letter, 
with as much painstaking as in the draft of a State 
paper. In writing the most familiar communications to 
his son or his wife, he would copy, or give an apology 
for not copying, as if he would not consent to do any 
thino; which he was not anxious to do well : and the 
same scrupulous exactness was shown by him through 
the whole circuit of his labors, not more as a habit, 
than as a purpose. 

So, too, he was a prodigy of aciiviiy : not of haste and 
bustle, but of rapid, effective labor, in a quiet, unruffled 
spirit. His equilibrium was one secret of his momen- 
tum. Serene and sunny in temperament, he sang with 
the morning and the evening birds. Men everywhere 
said, " he is too busy," " he will soon be spent," but he 
heard them not ; work had a charm for him — any 
work, all work, if so be it were only good. 

And, then, he had a most vivid sense of the value of 
time : in this respect he has made a stronger impression 
on us, than any man of whom we ever heard. He is 
perpetually recurring to the subject in his letters, and 
no less constantly acting as he writes. Take, for ex- 
ample, the following sentences, from a succession of 
letters to his son in college : — 

" Remember that time is a most invakiable talent ; be gov- 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 305 

etous of every parcel of it ; " — " bar your doors, and secure 
your eyes, your ears, and your heart against all who would 
rob you of your treasure ; I mean, your time ; " — " you can 
hardly have a better security against vice, next to the grace 
of- God, than uniform diligence in the pursuit of useful 
knowledge ; be, therefore, more covetous of your hours, than 
misers are of gold ; " — "a more favorable opportunity for 
improvement it is not probable you will ever see — perhaps 
never another equally so — and the motto of our Academy 
seal' still applies, as you are beginning a new year, new 
studies, and in a new situation, ' Finis origine pendet ; '" — "I 
cannot persuade myself to omit any opportunity of express- 
ing my solicitude that you should participate of my feelings, 
respecting the importance of time, especially of holy time; 
next to this the importance of governing the passions ; " — 
"let no day be barren of improvement, but eVen at those 
seasons when close application to study is not expected, 
recollect the past and make some useful reflections on what- 
ever you see and hear, that ' you may give for every day some 
good account at last ; '" — " leslize more and more the worth 
of time — of the present moment in particular — and make it 
your invariable rule, not to defer any duty till the next hour 
or moment which can be performed in the present ; a relig- 
ious observation of this rule will be of immense advantage to 
you through life ; advice of more importance is not in the 
power of Your affectionate parent, 

" S. Phillips." 

" A religious observation of this rule : " — how exactly 
does this describe his own habit ! 

26* 



306 MEMOIR OF 

And as his religion thus exalted his estimate of 
time, so it made him, in the words of one of his ad- 
mirers, ^^ an eMiisiastfor virtue^ Whenever he touched 
upon " virtue " in its abstract oneness, or upon " the 
virtues" as a sisterhood of graces, his spirit always 
kindled. Like the " aliquid immensum infinitumque " 
of the old Eoman sage, toward which he was ever strug- 
gling, his ideal of virtue fascinated him. She stood 
before him, you would think, in the grace of a living, 
personal beauty ; she breathed into him the spirit of 
her own serenity ; he sat at her feet to learn, to ad- 
mire, to love ; she thrilled him with thoughts of what 
he might be and do as her votary. It was not a poetic 
fancy of virtue, as above God or apart from God, but a 
moral perception of virtue in and from God, that was 
such a sunbeam in his soul. And, therefore, with per- 
sistent devotion, he gravitated toward her as the needle 
does to the polar star, and the charm of her presence 
irradiated his whole character and life. 

But even this characteristic was, if possible, less 
prominent in him, than his intemelf/ ethical vein. Had he 
lived in the age of Seneca or of Socrates, he would 
have rivalled them. But in a better day he was a 
wiser moralist. The strong tendency in his nature to 
that clear, concentrated method of reflection which is 
apt to express itself pithily in the form of maxims, was 
so wedded to his vital religious experience, that, with 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 307 

their advantages, he would have written as a Christian 
philosopher better than Paley or Butler; less coldly, 
with less intellectual force, perhaps, but not less clearly, 
and far more evangelically. He cannot allude in a 
letter to a slight trouble with a domestic, without digni- 
fying the occasion by the exclamation, — "how depend- 
ent the highest upon the lower classes ! and all upon 
each other ! " If he writes upon some matter of busi- 
ness, he must enforce discretion in it, by the broad pre- 
cept, — " let caution be your motto." When he com- 
mends a friend for kindnesses to the poor, in sickness, 
he makes it a deed of heaven rather than earth by the 
saying, — " to pour the balm of comfort into the bosom 
of the afflicted is a Godlike employment." As he ex- 
pounds to a jury their duty, the law becomes suddenly 
personified and present, providing them "as the eye 
and the ear of the public." When he elaborates the 
constitution of an academy, its entire preamble is a 
cluster of ethical utterances, and its delineation of a 
teacher's duties is in the richest strain of ethical sug- 
gestion. Everywhere, amid the memorials which he 
has left, we encounter such gems of thought, and of 
diction fitly clothing it. 

With this ethical mind he united an impressive sedate- 
ness. Sallies of wit in others he could appreciate and 
enjoy richly. His wife and his cousin. Miss Sally Phil- 
lips, were especially gladdening to him in their exu- 



308 MEMOIR OF 

berant vivacity at their fireside ; but though he was 
habitually cheerful, he could not be drawn into the 
mirthful vein. It was a study, as well as an instinct, 
with him to be serious, yet not sombre. " He was the 
gravest man I ever saw," says one ; " he had a most 
hcnignant countenance," says another, "and such a smile!" 
The gravity which so awed, and yet won both old and 
young, was doubtless the more characteristic, because 
of his attenuated figure and the pallor of disease, 
which at fifty gave him the air of a man of seventy 
years. But it was, after all, a mental more than a 
physical peculiarity. It was the deep inner habit of 
the man, intensely reflecting, constructive, utilitarian, 
and devout, — impressing its image and superscription 
upon his tall form and pale face. 

And the more noticeably so, as to this was added a 
profound JmmiUtt/. 

" Should it not," he writes to Madam Phillips when a new 
chapter in their experience was opening, " give us complete 
satisfaction and the highest joy, that this, as well as every 
other change, is in the hand of that perfect Being, to whom 
the future is as clear as the present or ])ast ; who thoroughly 
comprehending the whole chain of events at one glance, can 
with complete certainty order every occun-ence as shall be best 
on the whole, and most assuredly will do it ; should not we 
consider ourselves as little atoms, moving in that part of the 
scene which he has assigned us ; and when events appear 
at hand which are contrary to our wishes, should we not 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 309 

remember how entirely ignorant we are ot what is behind 
the curtain ? and that when events appear most against us, 
they are oftentimes followed with consequences highly bene- 
ficial." 

Ever appreciative of others' excellence, concerning 
himself he often speaks in a desponding tone : — 

" I feel, more than ever, my barrenness and insufficiency to 
discharge that mighty debt of gratitude, which I owe to 
Heaven and those benefactors, granted me by Divine bounty, 
at the head of whom stands the dear partner of my life, ever 
ready to bless me with her tender care and kindness." " In 
the early part of life, I fondly pleased myself with the expecta- 
tion that I should do some good and communicate some 
happiness to others; — how strangely have I been disap- 
pointed ! ... if I have been so useless in the prime of life, 
what can be expected when declining, and that so fast I . . . 
when you are nearest the throne of grace, be entreated earn- 
estly to supplicate the inexhaustible source of all good, in 
behalf of your unworthy partner, — that his multiplied offences 
may be forgiven him, — that he may be enabled to discharge 
all duty far better, in time to come, than in the days that are 
past ; and next to those he owes his Maker, those which are 
due to his nearest friend and their offspring." — 

" Forty and five years of my pilgrimage are now completed, 
and to very little purpose, either for the honor of my Maker 
or the benefit of mankind ; consequently I have hardly learned 
the true end of living. -The time that is past seems but a 
span ! and although a very poor account can be rendered of 
it, the best part of life is gone irrecoverably ; upon the most 



310 MEMOIR OF 

favorable calculation much cannot be expected from the re- 
mainder, and no dependence can be placed on any thing 
future ; were it not for the hope of Divine mercy how 
wretched would be my lot ! But what ground for hope in 
this mercy without a life of repentance, faith, and nevj obedi- 
ence I Let us daily, whether together or apart, unite our 
supplications at the throne of grace, that we may be disposed 
to live that life; that the remaining part of our life may be 
more fruitful of service to others, and comfort to ourselves." 

Such, year after year, are his pensive words, until 
we are ready to say, " he must have been a sad man ; " 
no ! he was a self-tasking man ; and his standard was 
so high that he seemed, to himself, immeasurably be- 
low it. His was not the humility of indifference, nor 
of dejection, but of greatness in thought and deed, as 
Newton compared all his researches to the gathering 
of a few pebbles on the shore of the wide ocean of 
truth. He thought so much less of himself than other 
men do, because he saw so much more than others do 
in virtue, in duty, in every thing good. 

In apparent contrast with these characteristics, yet 
in admirable proportion to them, there was one which 
adds a charm to his memory ; he chetished a special fond- 
ness for the young. His sensibilities were attuned to this 
affection ; his whole character was touched by its mag- 
netism. Companion of statesmen as he was, and a 
proverb for his gravity, he was never more in his ele- 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. * 311 

ment than when conversing with a little child, or drop- 
ping his goodly maxims, like the gentle dew, into the 
heart of some listening youth. It was not a patronizing, 
but a parental interest, which he exhibited, especially 
when through his prolonged efforts the Academy 
brought him into such contact with the sons of his 
friends and countrymen from all points of the compass. 

But all these traits would not have completed his 
type of Christian symmetry, without his rare estimate of 
the uses of wealth, as the handinaid of learning and religion. 
There was a disinterestedness, a loftiness of virtue, in 
the strength with which he grasped the idea of conse- 
crating large estates to such ends, which commands our 
reverence. And the form which this idea took, is espe- 
cially to be admired. It sought an embodiment in 
far-reaching plans, — in works for the great future, — 
in permanent institutions. It concentrated and accu- 
mulated in one focus, the best efforts of a lifetime. 
It did not refuse daily bread to the poor, nor any other 
transient charity; neither did it scatter all its stores 
in such infinitesimal subdivisions. It pursued the 
golden via media, j)roposing to itself prominently one 
GREAT WORK to be accomplished, while not neglecting 
such others as were consistent with it; and therefore 
it "took root downward and bore fruit upward;" it 
gave to his own spirit breadth and versatility ; it 
linked to itself, as with a chain of gold, all his other 



312 MEMOIR OF JUDGE PHILLIPS. 

schemes : it subsidized a family of kindred spirits, and 
unlocked their hoards and hearts ; it reached out, first 
in the faith, and then in the vision of its fruits, to the 
very ends of the earth ; and " by it, he being dead yet 
speaketh." 



CHAPTER XII. 

HIS DECEASE. 

The best life must end; often the very virtues of 
the good are presages of their early translation to a 
brighter world. As his years glided swiftly away, with 
increasing debility Judge Phillips redoubled his ac- 
tivity, until he completed his self-immolation in mid- 
life. For some years prior to his death, he distinctly 
foresaw it approaching. His chronic asthma began 
to be ominous of fatal consumption. Often, for weeks 
in succession, it prevented his enjoying an hour's in- 
vigorating sleep, and oppressed him with an insatiable 
thirst. With unflagging persistency, therefore, he " re- 
deemed the time," not thinking how to relieve his 
over-tasked system, but how to fill out the measure 
of his life-work in every relation. Had he consented 
at a much earlier date to relax the tension of his 
zeal, the shadow on his dial might have returned ten 
degrees backward, as it did for a sign to the good 
king Hezekiah. 

But his election was made ; of the two, he preferred 
to live fast rather than long ; to do his utmost to-day 

27 (313) 



314 MEMOIR OF 

and not count upon to-morrow ; to do as many things as 
possible, and all as well as possible, though the fire of 
such a devotion might soon consume him. This seems to 
most minds an error — a morbid zeal ; and for ordinary 
men it would be so, but there is little hazard of their 
being infected with it. In any case, it is "a fault that 
leans to virtue's side." But in his case, we shrink on the 
whole from pronouncing it a fault, or even a mistake. 
To live a single year as he did, is more than ten years 
of ordinary activity ; and, in the words of Burke, " we 
must pardon something to the spirit of liberty," with 
which such a soul is fired in its work. It cannot be 
mechanically moderate; it cannot gauge every thing 
by the canons of mere reason, uninfluenced by its 
ruling passion. Trim it and tame it by such processes 
and you extinguish it. The extraordinary man is 
made " altogether such an one as ourselves." What 
makes him so remarkable ; what has given him such 
power, and made him accomplish so much, until you 
feel what a pigmy you are by his side, is the very 
peculiarity out of which you must see his life-springs 
flowing so fast and full, that they cannot flow long. 
Let us see him, then, at fifty " setting his house in 
order." In the summer of 1801, he makes a last 
effort to recruit his strength, by journeying in com- 
pany with Madam Phillips and his friend Dr. Pearson, 
who exclaims, in reporting their progress: "may gra- 
cious Heaven still smile on the undertaking, and pre- 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 315 

serve a life so dear to his friends, so important to the 
pubhc." Their tour extends through the western 
counties of the Commonwealth as far as Albany ; but 
no skill or assiduity can avail, and he returns to his 
home, resigned to the will of God in the blighting of 
their hopes. 

The postscript in that long New Year's letter to his 
son, added when his own hand has become too feeble 
to copy it, completes his work for him ; so in every 
direction, and to all classes of friends, he sends now 
his final words of counsel or of adieu ; he gathers 
the Trustees about him, and "particularly requests 
that a select committee be chosen to meet once in a 
quarter or oftener, to inquire into the state of the 
Academy, the proficiency of the scholars, and the con- 
duct of the instructors, that the care of the Institu- 
tion may be attended to ; " thus, with his latest breath, 
planning for its welfare ; ^ he remembers the church 
of his choice in his prayers and gifts, directing that 
a massive silver flagon be presented to them, "as a 
memorial of his sincere affection and esteem, and his 
earnest request that the laudable practice of reading 
in the house of public worship between services on 
Lord's Day may be continued, so long as even a small 
number shall be disposed to attend the exercise ; " ^ 
and then, amid the tenderest endearments of his be- 

^ Records of Phillips Academy, p. 155. 
^ Records, South Church. 



316 MEMOIR OF 

loved family, he calmly expires ; meeting death, as he 
had ever met his duty, in the serenity of Christian 
hope and faith. The friends who know him, and feel 
his death, now lead us again over the circuit of his 
life, and pay such tributes to his character as nothing 
but the heartiest homage could ever call forth; we 
accept their words, and repress our own. 

In the Centinel, February 13, 1802, we read : — 

" Died, at his seat in Andover, at 2 o'clock on Wednesday 
afternoon, his Honor Samuel Phillips, Esquire, ^t. 50, Lieu- 
tenant-Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 

" A loss deeply to be deplored by every friend of his State 
and country. It is the lot of few to acquire a reputation so 
bright and unspotted as that Avhich he possessed, and of 
fewer still to take an active and decided part in all political 
events, and yet preserve integrity unimpeached, and talents 
uncontroverted. He graduated at Harvard College in 1771. 
While yet a youth, the qualities which made eminent his 
riper years, rendered him beloved and conspicuous. At this 
early period of his life, he was distinguished for that solidity 
of judgment, deep penetration, strict moral principle, active 
virtue, and stable Christian piety, which constituted the 
striking features of his character, and attained for him the 
notice of his instructors, and the attachment of his equals. 
He had scarcely reached manhood, when his fellow-towns- 
men, with a readiness which does honor to their sagacity, 
elected him their Representative ; and, by their suffrages and 
that of his district, he was raised to a seat in the House and 
Senate of the State for twenty-five years successively, until 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 317 

the public voice elevated him to the high station in which 
he died. . . . The Academy which bears his family name, 
and which is indebted principally to his patronage for its 
existence and celebrity, witnesses his love of literature and 
his ardent exertions in its cause. An enthusiast in his at- 
tachment to virtue, a Christian in sentiment and the strictest 
profession, eminent for piety, private friendship, and zeal 
for the public, what good breast which knew his worth, 
is not "WTung at his loss ; what lover of his country does not 
lament one of the firmest pillars of the State, and of private 
worth one of the brightest examples ? " 



In the Journal of the Legislature, we read : — 



"House, Thursday, February 11. 

" The Secretary delivered the following Message from the 
Governor : — 

" Gentlemen of the Senate, and Gentlemen of the 
House of Repkesentatives, — The Commonwealth has lost 
one of its best and ablest friends by the death of the Lieu- 
tenant-Governor. He died yesterday about two in the after- 
noon ; and his family propose that his funeral shall be 
attended on Monday next at two o'clock. A long and inti- 
mate acquaintance with him, enables some of us to bear tes- 
timony to his distinguished merit. He was solicitous to 
preserve the good order of society, and to exhibit to his fel- 
low-citizens a pattern of every civil and moral virtue. With- 
out any solicitation on his part, he was many years elected a 
member of the Senate, and presided in their deliberations 
with candor and dignity. In the office of Lieutenant- Go v- 

27* 



318 MEMOIR OF 

ernor, he secured respect by mild deportment, resulting from 
the testimony of a good conscience. He was firm and inflex- 
ble whenever the interests of the Commonwealth were con- 
cerned ; and he acquitted himself with honor in all the 
offices confided to him by the public, and in all the relations 
of private life. I shall be ready to join with you, gentlemen, 
in any tribute of esteem and respect, which you may think 
due to the merit of his public services. 

" Caleb Strong. 
"Council Chamber, February 11, 1802. 

The Centinel of February 17, continues the narra- 
tion : — 

" In conformity to the Resolutions of the Legislature, the 
tribute of esteem and respect so justly due the deceased, was 
paid on Monday last, in this town and at Andover. In this 
town the members of the Legislature moved in procession to 
the old brick meeting-house, where the Rev. Mr. Baldwin, 
Chaplain of the House, delivered a very pertinent and 
pathetic discourse from John i. 47, ' Behold an Israelite 
indeed, in whom is no guile.' The Rev. Dr. Thatcher, Chap- 
lain of the Senate, concluded the solemnity with prayer. 
At two o'clock, all the bells in town commenced tolling, and 
continued until four o'clock, during which time minute guns 
were discharged by Captain Johonnot's company. 

" At Andover the remains of the deceased were entombed 
with those demonstrations of esteem, respect, and affection, 
which his singular worth demanded. The procession moved 
from the late mansion-house of the deceased, in the following 
order to the meeting-house : — 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 319 

The present pupils of the Academy, 

Those who have heretofore received instruction in that Institution, 

The Trustees of the Academy, 

Trustees of Phillips Exeter Academy, 

The Corpse, 

The pall was borne by His Excellency the Governor, three of the 

Council, the President of the Senate, and Speaker of the 

House of Representatives, 

The Relatives, and a very long train of mourning fellow citizens 

followed the Corpse. 

" At the meeting-house, a select choir of singers performed 
an anthem. The throne of grace was pertinently and fer- 
vently addressed by the Rev. Mr. French, whose fast flowing 
tears testified his sincere grief for the loss of his most excel- 
lent parishioner and beloved friend. The Rev. Dr. Tappan 
delivered an affecting discourse from the words, — ' help, 
Lord, for the godly man ceaseth, for the faithful fail from 
among the children of men ; ' in which he delineated in just 
and glowing colors the character of the illustrious deceased 
Christian, Patron of Science, and Patriot. An anthem suita- 
ble to the solemn occasion closed the service. His Excel- 
lency Governor Oilman, and other eminent characters from 
New Hampshire, paid a just tribute to departed worth, piety, 
and patriotism, by attending the funeral rites of this highly 
venerated and esteemed magistrate. 

" The Committee of the Legislature omitted to recom- 
mend any military escort on the occasion, in consequence of 
the earnest request of the deceased expressed a few days be- 
fore his death, he being apprehensive that the health of his 
fellow-citizens at this season of the year might be aflected 
by the service." 



320 MEMOIR Oi 

A mourning sheet, on which one of the anthems 
here referred to was printed for the occasion, lies 
before us, the only copy we have seen : and it is easy 
to imagine ourselves listening to the pathos with which 
the choir sings, — 

" Th' enlightened friend of human kind, 
The MAN of uncorrupted mind, 
Whose only fault was too much zeal 
And ardor for the public weal ; 

" Whose spotless life has ever stood, 
A living monument of good ; 
Best model for a virtuous age, 
And glory of the historic page ; 

" Though lost to earth, is blest above, 
Arrayed in robes of peace and love, 
Convened amid the choir divine. 
In realms of endless day to shine. 

" Parent of all ! whose sovereign will 
Obedient cherubim fulfil, 
Oh, teach us, in the hour of death. 
With tranquil hope to yield our breath ; 

" On wings of faith with transport rise. 
To meet thy welcome to the skies ; 
Enjoy thy rest, receive thy crown, 
And at tuy Son's right hand sit down." 

While Dr. Baldwin, in his sermon at Boston, gives a 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 321 

rapid sketch of the deceased, in which every parar 
graph is a eulogy, and of which one sentence is a sum- 
mary, — " he was the accurate scholar, the enlightened 
statesman, the accomplished gentleman, and the ex- 
emplary Christian," — Dr. Tappan, before his vast audi- 
tory at Andover, pays a more elaborate and lofty tribute 
to his worth. In addition to what has been already 
quoted from this discourse, we would gladly cite whole 
pages here, but must confine ourselves to mere sen- 
tences. Portraying him as " a distinguished ornament 
and pillar both of the church and the Commonwealth," 
he says : — 

" The Author of nature had bestowed on him many emi- 
nent gifts," which " were early and constantly devoted to the 
best ends by a sublime spirit of benevolence and godliness ; " 
" the piety of our illustrious citizen was equal to his patriot- 
ism ; his religion supported and exalted both his private vir- 
tues and public energies ; " " he was a distinguished pattern 
of virtuous diligence and resolution ; " " both his solitary and 
social hours were intensely devoted to some object of utility ; " 
" his cordial and extensive hospitality, his tender and zealous 
patronage of friendless or indigent merit, his eager sacrifices 
of private business and interest to public exigencies, his 
efforts to rouse, direct, and encourage the charity and public 
spirit of others, his distinguished contributions of time, influ- 
ence, and property to seminaries of learning and religion, 
loudly attest his pure and exalted philanthropy ; " " the his- 
tory of man does not often furnish a character so full of 
various, well directed, and useful energies. It does not often 



322 MEMOIR OF 

illustrate the art of living so much in so small a compass of 
years ; " " his soul was on the stretch to do good almost to 
his latest breath." 

The immense concourse, the presence of so many 
distinguished civilians, the universal sensibility, and the 
impressive exercises, with which her favorite son w^as 
thus laid in his tomb, made this a most memorable day 
to Andover; such as she had nerver seen before, and 
will never see again. Even her own town records, 
where deaths are not usually noted, appear to throb in 
sympathy with the scene ; on one of the pages, a deep 
mourning border is drawn, enclosing this entry : — 

" The Honorable Samuel Phillips, Esquire, was elected 
Lieutenant-Governor, qualified for that office agi'eeable to 
the Constitution, and continued therein, until Wednesday, 
the tenth day of February, 1802, about two o'clock, P. M., 
when he departed this life, aged fifty years and five days, 
universally lamented." 

To these garlands, showered upon his tomb at the 
hour, and which a whole Commonwealth laid, with the 
insignia of her seal, upon his coffin, we add some pas- 
sages from a later encomium — the more remarkable, 
because they show how little a score of years could do 
to efface his image from the memory of one who had 
fully known him. It is from the pen of Dr. Dwight^ 
in 1821, in these words : — 

^ Dwight's Travels, Vol. I. p. 399, 400. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 323 

" To the memory of Lieutenant-Governor Phillips, I would 
willingly pay that tribute of respect, which would be chal- 
lenged as due to him by all his countrymen, acquainted either 
with his private or public character. In the year 1782 and 
1783, I lodged in the same house with him in Boston, for 
three months ; and being occupied in the same concerns, had 
every opportunity of learning his character which I could 
wish ; particularly as he treated me with the most entire 
frankness and intimacy. 

" The mind of this gentleman, by nature vigorous and dis- 
cerning, was early strengthened by habits of industry, and 
expanded by a liberal education." ..." The learning and 
science to which he chiefly addicted himself, was that which 
most usefully affects the great interests of man. Of a char- 
acter eminently practical, knowledge merely speculative, pre- 
sented few allurements to his eye ; action, he considered the 
end of thinking. He thought, therefore, and read, not merely 
that he might know more, but that he might become better ; 
not that he might display his knowledge to his fellow men, 
but that he might do them good. A species of ethical cast 
marked his conversation and life, and distinguished him from 
all other men whom I have known." . . . 

" He who is able and willing to do much business, will 
have much to do. Accordingly, he had a primary agency in 
all the measures of the State in which he lived, for near 
thirty years. Without exaggeration it may, I believe, be 
said, that the man is not remembered, who, in the same 
offices, was more able, industrious, faithful, or useful." . . . 
" In his mind Christianity flourished. In his life its fruits 
were genuine, fair, and abundant. Whether Mr. Phillips was 
a Christian, in the evangelical sense, is a question which, I 



324 MEMOIR OF 

suspect, has never been asked by any man acquainted with 
his character. 

" His person was tall and slender, and his manners were a 
happy combination of simplicity with refinement, of modesty 
with dignity. His countenance was grave, mild, and com- 
manding ; his features were fixed in the sedateness of thought, 
and gentle with the amenity of virtue." 

The character which, after the lapse of twenty years, 
could be painted so vividly and with such nice discrim- 
ination, is yet again portrayed for us, from memory, 
with graphic distinctness, at the close of half a century, 
by one from whom it is our good fortune to have elic- 
ited the tribute in the following letter : — 

" Rev. J. L. Taylor : — 

"Dear Sir, — Your favor of the 10th ultimo has lain by 
me without reply ; but when you approximate your eighty- 
fourth year, you will find that, though the spirit is willing, 
the flesh is w^eak ; and that time, when he sees gray hairs on 
the head, will often amuse himself with rubbing out impres- 
sions on the brain, so that they become feeble and at times 
obliterated. Though I have omitted to reply, I have at no 
moment lost my sense of gratification at the information 
your letter contains, that, at this late day, you have vmder- 
taken to do such justice to the memory of Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor Samuel Phillips, as the lapse of time and the scanty 
documents at your command permit. It would give me 
great pleasure to contribute to your design, as you request, 
but I fear I can do little justice even to my own impressions 
concerning his character, and far less than his merits and his 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 325 

efficient influence on the period in which he lived, deserve. 
I have already, in reply to letters addressed to me by Presi- 
dent Woods and Dr. Sprague of Albany, probably exhausted 
all the few reminiscences at my command, I will not, how- 
ever, on that account, refuse briefly to contribute to your pur- 
pose, though at the danger of repeating myself. 

" Samuel Phillips, known the greater part of his life, in 
consequence of the life of his father, by the addition of Jun- 
ior, was an extraordinary man ; but it is very difficult to give, 
at this day, a just impression of his character. The religious 
and moral element in it was mixed so intimately, and yet so 
unaffectedly, with the business of the world and the habits 
of active life, that he seemed to be a perfect embodiment of 
the Christian statesman, scholar, and philanthropist. I had 
opportunities of observing him from the year 1778, when I 
joined the Academy, being then but six years of age, and 
occasionally, until the time of his death in 1802. I was a 
frequent visitor in his family, though never a member of it. 
My mother was daughter of his father's brother, and always 
stayed in his house when she visited Andover, which brought 
me to be almost a daily inmate. I have heard his addresses 
to the school as a Trustee, to the College as an Overseer, 
and, as a boy and a man, my opportunities for personal in- 
tercourse with him have been many ; and I can truly say that 
I have never met, through my whole life, with an individual 
in whom the spirit of Christianity and of good-will to man- 
kind were so naturally and beautifully blended with an in- 
domitable energy and enterprise in active life. He was a 
leader in the church, a leader in the State ; the young loved 
and listened to him, the old consulted and deferred to his 
advice. 

28 



326 MEMOIR OF 

" I have travelled with him from Boston to Andovcr alone, 
then a journey of the chief part of a day ; his discourse, 
adapted to a boy as I then was, full of sweetness and in- 
struction. 

" His love of the young was intense. He delighted in the 
poetry of Watts, which he seemed to have, all of it, by heart ; 
so readily and appositely he introduced it in conversation, 
accompanied by a never ceasing flow of wise maxims, given 
not with an air of authority, but as the natural outpouring 
of a good and kind heart. 

" I cannot, in language, do justice to the interest and affec- 
tion with which, on these occasions, he excited the young 
mind. 

" In his capacity for business, there was, as it were, an 
universality or ubiquity. In the town, in the Senate, in the 
courts of justice, in committees of the legislature, as a referee 
in cases of great importance, in all other associations on 
affairs of business, his influence was, as far as was possible 
in respect of any one man, paramount. For twenty years he 
was a member, and for fifteen President of the Senate of the 
State, at a period when statesmen were not made out of 
every sort of wood. He was judge of the Essex Court of 
Common Pleas, a member of every important committee, on 
like occasions a referee, and, at the same time, owned and 
took a general superintendence of two stores, one at An- 
dover, another at Methuen, of a saw-mill, a grist-mill, a 
paper-mill, and a powder-mill, on the Shawshine, giving to 
each a sufficient and appropriate share of his oversight ; with 
a spirit subdued by the predominancy of the religious senti- 
ment, he was as earnest, active, and indefatigable in this 
multitude of his engagements, as though this world was 
every thing. 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 327 

" In fulfilling business duties, difficulty did not repress his 
ardor, nor dangers deter. Boston and Andover were the 
chief seats of his labors. The business of one sometimes 
interfered with that of the other. In such cases, to him no 
obstacle was formidable. It was not uncommon for him to 
leave Boston at sunset and travel to Andover, a distance of 
twenty-two miles, on horseback, and sometimes not reaching 
home until midnight. On one occasion falling asleep, his 
horse took a wrong path in passing through woods, and 
he became lost in them, and reached home not until nearly 
morning. At another time his horse fell in the dark ; a 
broken leg, and three weeks' detention at a friend's house, 
in Medford, was the consequence. His friends remonstrated, 
on these occasions, at his imprudence. But it was his nature 
to be unmindful of every thing but his duty. He undoubt- 
edly, by thus exposing himself, laid the foundation of the 
asthma and of other disorders, which brought him to his grave 
when but little past the meridian of life. 

" Samuel Phillips (junior) was, probably, in the general 
opinion of the period, the efficient founder of Phillips Acad- 
emy.^ He was, indeed, a young man, not yet thirty years 

* In addition to our own statements, on this point, in a previous 
chapter, of the same tenor with Mr. Quincy's, we here insert the 
formal and explicit testimony of Dr. Tappan and Dr. Pearson to the 
same effect. Dr. Tappan, who was his class mate and a Trustee of 
the Academy, spealis of him in the discourse at his funeral as "■ its 
earliest projector ; " Dr. Pearson, his confident, a resident in the 
place, with whom he conferred often while writing the Constitution, 
and the first Preceptor, in his historic sketch delivered at the open- 
ing of the Theological Institution, says of the Academy, " the tribute 
of justice has not been paid to the prime mover, as well as active 



328 MEMOIR OF 

old, but there was a maturity of mind, an impressive gravity 
in his demeanor, to which the old as well as the young bowed 
down. He was equally the favorite of the three brothers ; 
while they found the means, he selected the locality, wrote 
the Constitution, and appointed the Instructor. 

" I have thus. Sir, with a rapid hand, endeavored, as well 
as I could, to come in aid of your purpose. Its success 
lies near my heart; and I shall be happy to reply to any 
questions in relation to him or the Academy you may 
submit. With respect, I am your servant, 

"JOSIAH QUINCY. 

"Boston, December 13, 1855." 

In the freshness and fragrance of such reminiscences, 
lino-erino; lono;er in the minds of his survivors than the 
whole term of his life, we see with what force his char- 
acter projected itself into the future, for which he lived. 
And as we thus gather up evidence of the impressions 
which he had made, in the spontaneous homage of all 
classes of minds, uttered at his death and afterwards, 
we look upon it all as prophetic of his destiny here. 

patron, of that Seminary. Let it then for once be publicly an- 
nounced, and this without diminishing the merit of the generous 
Founders, that to the sagacious, originating, and disinterested mind 
of the late patriotic Lieutenant-Governor Phillips, is the world in- 
debted for the conception of an Institution, from which so many bless- 
ings have already flowed to the community ; " and, at the close of 
his testimony, he crowns the eulogy, by the deep utterance of "re- 
gret, tiiat this paragon of public spirit so early took his upward 
flight ! " 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 329 

It cannot be that such a character will ever be for- 
gotten. It was formed to live on, like the works it 
produced, in such perpetuity as earth can give, as well 
as in the immortality of Heaven. The gratitude of 
men, and the j)rovidence of God, must conspire to bear 
along its image, parallel with the history of his favor- 
ite Institution, and beaming forth, at intervals, in new 
lustre, as its great career expands. Yet, aside from the 
brief obituary, or the discourse of an hour, or some 
scanty page in a biographical dictionary, or a passing 
tribute in a journal of travels, such as have here been 
cited, there has heen no ivritten memorial of him ! 

The surviving members of his immediate family, we 
are assured, had so profound a reverence for his char- 
acter, that they always shrank from the proposal to 
sketch it, as an impossible achievement; and so they 
passed away, with other admiring friends, who longed 
to see his biography written, but had not the courage 
to undertake it, lest it should prove unworthy of him. 
And with them have glided into oblivion countless in- 
cidents, and memories, and impressions, which, at an 
early day, might have helped to daguerreotype him 
more perfectly than is now possible. 

But if we must acquiesce in this long delay, and in 
all that it has detracted from the fulness of his por- 
traiture, it was at least our duty to have done what we 
could now to commemorate the grand distinguishing 
outlines of a character and life so extraordinary, both 

28* 



330 MEMOIR OF 

as a monument to his own memory, as well as to the 
name and fame of his family, and for the honor of the 
Institution in which he is held in deep gratitude and 
veneration by all. 

In one important respect the delay, which we lament, 
has not been an evil. It has given time to see, on a 
broad scale, the real magnitude of his good deeds by 
their fruits. It has shown us in history, what an earlier 
memoir could only have prophesied in hope. And 
having spared no labor in the collection or use of our 
materials, sustained in the effort by an interest which 
has made it all a pastime, yet the more we have toiled 
growing only the more conscious that no memorial can 
equal his desert, but with devout gratitude for the op- 
portunity to study him so intimately, and to contribute 
any thing toward holding him up as an example to the 
young, the enterprising, the educated, the wealthy, the 
honored, — who, with special advantages, may be stim- 
ulated by his influence to special activity in fostering 
our institutions of learning, with every other good work, 
— we now make this offering to his memory, in the 
hope that, as successive generations shall continue to 
reap their golden harvests from seed sown by him in 
love to God and man, yet other tongues and pens wdll 
join to honor him with amjiler tributes, while time 
shall last. 

We are not uninfluenced by the further hope, that 
inaugurating the organic era of our Andover institu- 



JUDGE PHILLIPS. 331 

tions as he did, such a memorial of him may give him 
now his fitting position in the historic era to which the 
lapse of years has brought us. Whoever may be 
moved to write of the gifts, or the doctrines, or the 
names, which a grateful world shall associate with An- 
dover in the work of education, must, in his measure, 
touch upon some aspect or feature of this rare char- 
acter. From the beginning, Andover, in all this work, 
has drawn to itself the devoted zeal of men worthy to 
second the plans of so disinterested and sagacious a pro- 
jector : the names of Ahhot, and Bartlet, and Brown, and 
JVorris, and Pearson, and Spnng, with their elect com- 
peers and successors, will be immortal here amid the cir- 
cle of the Phillipses ; but among them all he must ever 
stand conspicuous, our admiration, as he was theirs ; to 
be copied, if he cannot be equalled ; to be commemo- 
rated, if not reproduced : to be honored, loved, revered, 
wherever learning shall find a friend, or religion a 
votary. 



APPENDIX. 



A. 

Rev. George Phillips was the son of Christopher Phillips, 
of Rainham, St. Martin, Norfolk county, England, " me- 
diocris fortunee." He entered Gonville and Caius College, 
Cambridge, April 20, 1610, aged seventeen years ; graduated 
B. A. 1613, and M. A. 1617 ; giving there indications of 
deep piety, uncommon talents and love of learning, and dis- 
tinguishing himself by his remarkable proficiency : ^ the 
name was written by him with one L, " George Philips," but 
by all his descendants with the two L's. 

The original name of the Arbella was the Eagle, " a ship 
of 350 tons." 

1630. — On Wednesday, the 7th of April, before the com- 
pany had taken their final leave of the country, although 
they had been several days on shipboard, their remarkable 
letter was addressed " to the rest of their brethren in the 
Church of England," subscribed by Winthrop, Dudley, John- 
son, Saltonstall, Fiennes, Coddington, and Phillips. 

" Tuesday, the 27th. — We appointed Tuesdays and 
Wednesdays to catekise our people, and this day Mr. Phil- 
lips began it." 

" Lord's day. May 2. — Through God's mercy, we were 

' Genealogies, and History of Watertown, by Henry Bond, M. D. Vol. 

n. p. 872. 

(333) 



334 

APPENDIX. 



very comfortabJe onr? f 

to l^eep the Sabbat, Z Mr" PW.f*' ""* ''^'^ "PP-'unity 
day.'" " "^'^- Pi^'V preached twice that 

" August 23 ■ Th fi 

ernor Dudley, Sir Richard sll* . !*^"'"'™l'. Deputy-Gov- 
^f well, T. Sharp. P^chl ' ^^S',"'- I^"<«-f RLiter, 
th"ig propounded isi how^Lr"'"*''' *''"«" *'« first 
M'-- Wilson and P i C on, *''^ ^''^" ''^ "-"'teine^ ' 

;!°-- be bui,t for tSV t^„r:r ""; ^"^ °^''^^'^'^' '"^t 
■ck charge. Sir R. Saltorln 7 "* ''"=<"" a' *<><= Pub- 
h;^ plantation for Mr P ," ^" ""tr^' '" ^^^ " '"-' ^^ 
plantation for Mr. Wilson "i Governor at the other 

;;o;rro/:;i*, a:;r ^™ ^"--^ ^^» 3 

dean corne, 1 bushel o Itmeale l"^ ''' ' ""^"^"^ "^ I"" 
itj ^" ^PP-ll and other prS-^f^xi-df of salte 
^l^£ given him in money ner ann. I ' °' "'" *" l^ave 

vis,or,s, if hee chuse it the rlhe "h' '""'" "' """"^ P™" 
of September nexte.' 2 *''"' ^'^ ^'^'-e ^ begin the Lt 

"September, 30. _ M, p,,;,,- „_ 
town, and others, had thei; hj Z™ 'u ™"'^*" "' ^-^- 
November 30 1630 i t/- 

60^ collected oui of thrseverLrl't' •'"' *'"" ^''^" "« 
the maintenance of Mr W^ P'''"t'>«on5 following, for 

out of Boston, 20^. Waterton on^ pf' ^"'"'P^' "^V 
b"^y, 6^ ; Medford, 3i Wne'tf ' » f '""' ^"^ ' Koeta- 

Nowell, the efder of ik^^ZZZr' ^''™'^' ^"'' M^" 
Watertown to confer with M^ Phi !k ^'"'°"' *<»' *» 
Brown, the elder of the cnn„ '^"'"'P'^' the pastor, and Mr 

-Wch they had publ s ^ttt ^ *' n' ^'"'"' "" "P'"^" 
tmechh«.''3 '^ """' that the chh- of Rome were 

' ''^''''''hrop's Journal, Vol I „ , . ,, 

WinthropWournal, Vol. I „ sg.'^- '' ,'" 

vo'-i. p. 68, see also p. 67, 68, 81, 95. 



APPENDIX. 335 



" February 17. — The Governor and assistants called be- 
fore them, at Boston, divers of Watertown ; the pastor and 
elder by letter, and the others by warrant. The occasion 
was, for that a warrant being sent to Watertown for levying 
of .£8, part of a rate of X60, ordered for fortifying of the 
new town, the pastor and elder, etc., assembled the people 
and delivered their opinions, that it was not safe to pay 
moneys after that sort, for fear of bringing themselves and 
posterity into bondage." ^ Commenting on this transaction, 
Dr. Bond says, " it is not now easy to estimate the extent 
and importance of the influence of Mr. Phillips in giving 
form and character to the civil and ecclesiastical institutions 
of New England;" and he refers, besides Winthrop's Journal, 
to Hubbard's History, p. 186; Richard Brown, p. 117; John 
Oldham, p. 863 ; Francis's History, p. 13-38, etc. ; see Bond's 
Genealogies and History of Watertown, p. 873. . . . 

1644. "5.. 2.— Mr. George Phillips was buried. [He 
died the day previous, July 1st.] He was the first pastor of 
the church of Watertown, a godly man, specially gifted, and 
very peaceful in his place, much lamented of his own people 
and others." ^ 

Referring to the estimation in which he was held in 
England, Cotton Mather says, — "He found much acceptance 
with good men, as being a man mighty in the Scriptures. 
But his acquaintance with the writings and persons of some 
old Non- Conformists, had instilled into him such principles 
of Church Government as were like to make him unaccepta- 
ble unto some who then drove the world before them. . . . 
And as for Mr. Phillips, the more he was put upon the study 
of the Truth in the matter controverted, the more he was 
confirmed in his own opinion of it. . . . When the spirit of 
persecution did at length with the extremest violence urge a 
conformity to Ways and Parts of Divine worship, conscien- 
tiously scrupled by such persons as our Mr. Phillips, he with 

^ Winthrop's Journal. Vol. I. p. 70. " Ibid. Vol. 11. p. 171. 



336 APPENDIX. 

many more of his neighbors, entertained thoughts of trans- 
porting themselves and their families into the Deserts of 
America ; • . . here quickly after his landing he lost the de- 
sire of his eyes, in the death of his desirable consort, who, 
though an only child, had cheerfully left her parents to serve 
the Lord Jesus Christ, in a terrible wilderness. At Salem 
she died, entering into the Everlasting Peace. . . . Mr. Phil- 
lips, being better acquainted with the true church discipline 
than most of the ministers that came with him into the coun- 
try, their proceedings about the gathering and ordering of 
their church were methodical enough, though not in all things 
a pattern for all the rest. Upon a day set apart for solemn 
fasting and prayer, the very next month after they came 
ashore they entered into this Holy Covenant: — 

" July 30, 1630. — We whose names are hereto subscribed, 
having through God's mercy, escaped out of the pollutions of 
the world, and been taken into the society of his people, with 
all thankfulness do hereby with heart and hand acknowledge, 
That^ his gracious goodness and fatherly care towards us : 
and for further and more full declaration thereof, to the pres- 
ent and future ages, have undertaken (for the promoting of 
his glory and the churches good, and the honor of our blessed 
Jesus, in our more full and free subjecting of ourselves and 
ours, under his gracious government, in the practice of, and 
obedience unto all his holy ordinances and orders, which he 
hath pleased to prescribe and impose upon us) a long and 
hazardous voyage from East to West, from Old England in 
Europe, to New England in America : that we may walk be- 
fore him, and serve him without fear in holiness and righteous- 
ness all the days of our lives ; and being safely arrived here, 
and thus far onwards peaceably preserved by his special 
Providence, that we may bring forth our Intentions into 
Actions, and perfect our Resolutions in the beginnings of 
some just and meet Executions : We have separated the day 
above written from all other services, and dedicated it wholly 
to the Lord in divine employments for a day of afflicting our 



APPENDIX. 337 

souls, and humbling ourselves before the Lord, to seek Mm, 
and at his hands, a way to walk in, by fasting' and prayer, 
that we might knoiv what was good in his sight ; and the Lord 
was intreated of us. 

" For in the end of that day, after the finishing of our pub- 
lic duties, we do all, before we depart, solemnly, and with all 
our hearts, personally, man by man, for ourselves and ours, 
(charging them before Christ and his elect angels, even them 
that are not here with us this day, or are yet unborn, that 
they keep the promise unblameably and faithfully unto the 
coming of our Lord Jesus,) promise, and enter into a sure 
covenant with the Lord our God, and before him with one 
another, by Oath and serious Protestation made, to renounce 
all idolatry, and superstition, and will-ivorship, all human tra- 
ditions and inventions whatsoever^ in the worship of God; 
and forsaking all evil ways, do give ourselves wholly unto 
the Lord Jesus, to do him faithful service, observing and 
keeping all his statutes, commands, and ordinances, in all 
matters concerning om* Reformation; his worship, administra- 
tions, ministry, and government, and in the carriage of our- 
selves among ourselves, and one towards another, as he has 
prescribed in his Holy Word; further swearing to cleave 
unto that alone, and the true sense and meaning thereof, to 
the utmost of our power, as unto us the most clear Light and 
infallible Rule, and all-sufRcient Canon, in all things that con- 
cern us in this our way. 

" In witness of all we do ex animo, and in the presence of 
God hereto set our names or marks, in the day and year above 
written. About forty men, whereof the first was that excel- 
lent knight. Sir Richard Saltonstall, then subscribed this in- 
strument, in order, unto their coalescence into a Church es- 

vtl/Vt^* • • • 

" A church of believers being thus gathered at Watertown, 
this reverend man continued for divers years among them, 
faithfully discharging the duties of his ministry to the flock 
whereof he was made the overseer; and as a faithful steward 

29 



338 APPENDIX. 

giving- to every one their meat in due season. Herein he de- 
monstrated himself to be a real divine ; but not in any thing 
more than in his most intimate acquaintance with the Divine 
Oracles of the Scripture. . . . He had so thoroughly perused 
and pondered them, that he was able on the sudden to turn 
to any text,, without the help of concordances ; and they were 
so much his delight, that as it has been by some of his family 
affirmed, he read over the whole Bible six times every year ; 
nevertheless he did use to say that every time he read the Bible, 
he observed or collected something, which he never did before. 
. . . He was indeed — among the first saints of New Eng- 
land — a good man and full of faith and of the Holy Ghost ; 
and for that cause he was not only in public, but in private 
also, very full of holy discourse on all occasions ; especially 
on the Lord's day, at noon, the time intervening between the 
two exercises he would spend in conferring with such of his 
good people as resorted unto his house, at such a rate as mar- 
vellously ministered grace unto the hearersP . . . 

The preceding extracts from Mather's enthusiastic and dis- 
criminating tribute to the memory of Mr. Phillips, fill us with 
surprise that, by any sudden freak of his unique genius, he 
could have penned the following whimsical and ambiguous 

Epitaphium. 

Hie jacet GEORGIUS PHILLIPPI. 

Vir Incomparabilis, nisi SAMUELEM genuisset.* 



B. 

Rev. Samuel Phillips, of Rowley, had a numerous family ; 
his third child, Samuel, who was his eldest surviving son, 
born March 23, 1657-8, engaged in business as a goldsmith 
in Salem, married, in 1687, Mary Emerson, daughter of Rev. 

* Magnalia, Book III. p. 82, 83, 84. 



APPENDIX. 339 

John Emerson, of Gloucester, and died October 13, 1722, 
aged sixty-five. It is through this son that we connect his 
ancestry witii most of the Phillipses named in this memoir. 

Another son, George, his seventh child, named after the 
family patriarch at Watertown, was born in 1664 ; graduated 
at Harvard University, 1686, and labored in the ministry, 
first in Jamaica, L. I., until 1697, and afterwards in Brook- 
haven, until his death in 1739. " His character and qualifica- 
tions were of a high order." ^ Thus the family connection 
with the ministry and with liberal learning was continued. 
One of his sisters was also married to Rev. Edward Pay son, 
of Rowley, the colleague of his father. At the decease of 
the father, he was greatly lamented. " In 1839," says Dr. 
Bond, " a chaste and handsome marble monument was placed 
over the remains of Mr. Phillips and his wife, in the burial- 
ground of Rowley, by Hon. Jonathan Phillips of Boston, 
their great-great-great-grandson. Upon it is an inscription to 
their memories, and likewise to several of their honorably 
distinguished descendants." ^ Various manuscripts of this 
venerated man are still preserved in the family, especially his 
sermons and lectures. The handwriting is extremely minute, 
so as to be deciphered with difficulty, — more so than that 
of any of the family, which we have had occasion to exam- 
ine ; yet there is a characteristic neatness and symmetry, 
which one would not fail to admire. 



C. 

Mr. Phillips began to preach in this precinct April 30, 
1710 ; and after gathering about him, in the true spirit of a 

* See Winthrop's Journal, Vol. 11. p. 171. 

^ Bond's Gen. and Hist., p. 875, etc. ; the inscription in full, as referred to 
above, may be seen in Gage's History of Rowley, p. 73, 74 ; together with 
other interesting statements respecting Rev. Mr. Phillips and his descend- 
ants. 



340 APPENDIX. 

pioneer missionary, a little band, he united with them in the 
formation of the Church, his name being the first subscribed 
to their covenant, followed by thirty-four others. This cov- 
enant as recorded, and doubtless drawn up by his own 
hand, is as follows : — 

" A Covenant for the Gathering and Settling of a Church in the 
South Precinct of Andover. 

" We, whose names are hereunto subscribed, apprehending 
ourselves called of God to join together in Christian com- 
munion (acknowledging our unworthiness of such a privilege, 
and our inability to keep covenant with God unless Christ 
shall enable us thereunto), in humble dependence on free 
grace for Divine assistance and acceptance, we do, in the 
name of Christ Jesus our Lord, freely covenant and bind 
ourselves, solemnly, in the presence of God himself, his holy 
angels, and all his servants here present, to serve the only 
living and true God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, whose 
name alone is Jehovah, cleaving to him as our chief good, 
and unto our Lord Jesus Christ as our only Saviour, the 
Prophet, Priest, and King of our souls, in a way of Gospel 
obediei^ce : Avouching the Lord to be our God, and the God 
of our children, whom we give unto him ; and resolve that 
we and our houses will serve the Lord, counting it as an 
high favor, that the Lord will accept of us, and our children 
with us, to be his people. 

" We do also give ourselves one to another in the Lord, 
covenanting to walk together as a Church of Christ in all 
the ways of his worship, according to the Holy Rules of his 
Word ; promising, in brotherly love, faithfully to watch over 
one another's souls, and to submit ourselves to the discipline 
and power of Christ in his Church ; and duly to attend the 
seals and censures, or whatever ordinances Christ has com- 
manded to be observed by his people, so far as the Lord by 
his word and spirit has or shall reveal unto us to be our duty, 



APPENDIX. 341 

adorning the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things, avoid- 
ing even the very appearance of evil. 

" And that we may keep our covenants with God, we 
desire to deny ourselves, and to depend wholly on the free 
mercy of God, and upon the merits of Jesus Christ ; and, 
wherein we shall fail, to wait on him for pardon, through his 
name, beseeching the Lord to own us as a Church of Christ, 
and to delight to dwell in the midst of us." 

It is now nearly a century and a half since this Church 
was thus in due form constituted ; and few churches in any 
community have been more prosperous or useful; or have 
with more hearty unanimity continued to cherish the mem- 
ory of their first pastor. To this day the Church reminds 
itself of Covenant obligations, and of its early spiritual guide, 
by printing in its catalogues his comprehensive answer to 
the question, — 

" What shall we do that ice may heep in mind our Covenant'^ 

" 1. Very diligently and devoutly attend to the Covenant, 
whensoever it is publicly propounded to any person ; and 
yield your assent and consent to every article and tittle of it. 

" 2. Not only wait upon Christ at his table on all opportu- 
nities, but always eye the Lord's Supper as the seal of the 
Covenant. And every time you partake, realize that you 
have bound yourselves afresh to keep Covenant with God ; 
for, to take the Sacrament, is to take the oath of obedience 
and loyalty. 

" 3. Look upon the Holy Scriptures, in your daily reading 
of them, as the book of the Covenant ; for so it is, inasmuch 
as it exhibiteth our duty towards God and man ; and also 
what we may hope and expect to receive from the hand of 
God if we keep his statutes. Exod. xxiv. 7. 

" 4. Labor to have it impressed and fixed upon your minds, 
that heaven and earth are witnesses of your covenanting with 
the great God ; and that God, angels, and men will certainly 

29* 



342 APPENDIX. 

appear as such, either for or against you, in the day of reck- 
oning. 

"5. Discourse frequently together of the things pertaining 
to the kingdom of God, and particularly of the Covenant ; 
namely, the precepts, prohibitions, promises, and threatenings ; 
of the vows which you have made, and the comfortable ex- 
perience which you and others have had of God's gracious 
presence, etc. This practice will be of eminent service to 
help the memory, as also to quicken unto obedience. 

" 6. Frequently renew your Covenant with the Lord in 
secret, as becomes those who resolve to stand to what they 
have said ; this is not only the duty, but I should think will 
be also very much the delight of a sincere soul ; and a choice 
help it is, to revive our remembrance of the Covenant, and 
to excite our affections, and to quicken us to mend our pace. 

" 7. Keep your Covenant by you as a memorial of the 
solemn transactions which have passed between God and 
you, and frequently review the same. 

" 8. And, lastly, prayer must be always one direction. 
And this duty must be attended and performed not only in 
public, and in and with the families which you respectively 
belong unto, but also in secret. Thou, ivhen thou prayest, 
enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray 
to thy Father, which is in secret. — Matth. vi. 6. This duty 
of secret prayer I hope you do not dare to neglect ; you can- 
not, I think, ordinarily omit it, if you have a living, holy, 
principle within you. Well, and you must pray especially 
for spiritual blessings ; and in particular, that the Lord would 
please to put his law in your inward parts, and write it in 
your hearts ; ' that He would make it ready and familiar to 
you, at hand when you have occasion to use it, as that which 
is written in the heart ; that He would work in you a strong 
disposition to obedience, and an exact conformity of thought 
and affection to the rules of the Divine law, as that of the 
copy to the original.' You have a disposition this way al- 
ready ; pray that it may abide and grow, and plead that 



APPENDIX. 343 

precious promise in Jer. xxxi. 33 ; and the more you are dis- 
posed this way, the less danger will there be of your forget- 
ting the Covenant of the Lord your God. 

" Use. — From what has been said, let professors be ex- 
horted to put one another in mind of their Covenant duties and 
obligations. It is true, we may not watch over others and 
neglect ourselves, as some to their great reproach are said to 
do ; neither may our charity end at home ; for the law of 
God obliges us to love our neighbor as ourselves. And 
again it is written. Exhort one another daily. And it is re- 
marked concerning those that fear the Lord, that they spake 
often one to another. — Mai. iii. 16. And have we not ex- 
pressly bound ourselves by Covenant to watch over one an- 
other ? Yes, verily. How then shall we dare to neglect it ; 
especially considering that a great deal of sin and sorrow 
might probably be prevented, if professors would in this way 
be kind and faithful to one another? Thus, for instance, 
when a neighbor or brother is observed to be going into 
temptation, or in present danger of falling into some trans- 
gression, it is not improbable that these words, spoken in a 
suitable manner, in his hearing, remember your Covenant^ 
would prevent his fall ; or, if he has already fallen, it may 
be those words would be the means of recovering him out 
of the snare of the devil; and of bringing him unto un- 
feigned repentance. And so, if you see a brother backward 
to any good work, respecting either God or man, perhaps 
this memento would shame and quicken. Now we are un- 
doubtedly obliged to do this, and much more, to prevent 
each other's hm-t, and to promote each other's good. O let 
us not be negligent." 

Under what influences Mr. Phillips was led to devote 
himself to the ministry we are not informed ; but his mother 
was the daughter of a clergyman. Rev. John Emerson, of 
Gloucester ; his uncle George was then a useful pastor ; his 
venerable grandfather, at Rowley, lived to be quite distinctly 



344 APPENDIX. 

remembered by him, as a vision of his childhood, and "the 
names of both the grandfather at Rowley, and the great- 
grandfather at Watertown, were cherished with affectionate 
veneration in the family. . . . Such influences, united with 
his own self-relying character, and his decisive religious con- 
victions and experience, were adapted to make him cling 
with ardor to the profession of his -choice, and with some- 
what of the spirit of a champion, in defence of his tenets. 
" Being sincerely attached," says Allen, " to those views of 
religious truth, which were embraced by the first fathers of 
New England, he could not quietly see the efforts that were 
made to pervert the faith, which he was persuaded was once 
delivered to the saints. He exerted himself both by his 
preaching and his writings, to guard his people against the 
intrusion of error." ^ " His anxiety on the subject," says the 
compiler of the History of Andover, " may be easily seen in 
some of his last publications," ^ his zeal growing more intense 
with his years. It may be a matter of interest to some of 
the readers of this Memoir, to state that among his manu- 
script sermons which we have examined, are two preached 
by him upon which he wi'ote the following memoranda : — 

" ' Andover, May 12th. 1 734 : Being the last Sabb : of our meeting in our 
old meeting-house ; whioh had been improved 24 years and almost 4 mo : 
John 14, ult; — Arise : let us go hence.' 

" ' Andover, May 19'^. 1 734 ; Being ye First Sabb : of our meeting in our 
new meeting-house. I Chron : 29, 13, 14: Now y''f; our God, we thank 
thee and praise thy glor : N. But wo am I, and w* is my pp, &c.' " 

The language of his will in the bequests to charitable ob- 
jects, referred to in the text, and which illustrates his great 
discrimination and carefulness, is as follows : — "I give the 
just sum of =£100 L. M'y, as an abiding fund for y^ relief of 
indigent Persons in ihe South Parish of Andover, aforesaid; 
namely, proper objects of charity, and such as receive no help 

1 Allen's Biog. Diet. p. 4 77. 

2 Hititoryof An.lover, by Abiel Abbot, A.M. 1829, p. 106. 



APPENDIX. 



345 



from the town, more especially those of y*= ch^, in the said 
Parish, standing in need of relief; the said sum of money to 
be paid by my executors to y** ministers and deacons of said 
society or parish after my decease ; namely, at the resettle- 
ment of a pastor of y** congregational persuasion; the prin- 
cipal always to be kept out upon interest on good security, 
never to be disposed of, and only y** interest thereof to be 
given away ; and when there is not occasion for y® whole of 
y^ interest, then y" remainder to be added to y® principal, and 
to be put out upon interest also ; and the whole to be conducted 
as y'^ said ministers and deacons of y« said Parish, for y" time 
being, to y*' end of time, shall, in their wisdom, judge best: 
and a fair and just account to be taken and preserved by y™ 
in a book for that purpose, of their disposal of the same 
from year to year, to be produced for y^ information of any 
who may desire it. I give the like sum of .£100 L. M'^, for 
y** pious and charitable use of propagating Christian knowl- 
edge among y* Indians of North America ; and to be dis- 
posed of for that intent, at such times, and to such person or 
persons, as my exec*''^ shall think best." These executors 
were his three sons. 

The children of Rev. Samuel Phillips, were : — 

1. Mary, born November 30, 1712, O. S. ; baptized the next 
Lord's day ; admitted to the church, July 8, 1734 ; married 
to Samuel Appleton, of Haverhill, October 12, 1736, and 
died in 1737. 

2. Samuel, born February 13, 1715; baptized the same 
day ; admitted to the church on the same day with his sister 
Mary, July 8, 1734 ; dismissed to the North Church in An- 
dover, April 1, 1739, where he resided till his death, August 
21, 1790. 

3. Lydia, born June 10, 1717; baptized the next Lord's 
day ; married Dr. Parker Clark, May 18, 1742 ; died Novem- 
ber 4, 1749. 

4. Jolm, born December 27, 1719 ; baptized the same day ; 



346 APPENDIX. 

recognized his baptismal covenant, April 27, 1735 ; graduated 
at Harvard College, 1735; died August 21, 1795. 

5. William, born June 25, 1722 ; baptized July 1 ; recog- 
nized his baptismal covenant, December 5, 1736 ; died Janu- 
ary 15, 1804. See Bond's Gen. & Hist. ; Records of the 
South Church, Andover, etc. The date of William's birth, 
as here given, differs from Dr. Bond's, perhaps from an error 
in connection with the change of style ; as the addition of 
eleven or twelve days would bring our date forward to his, 
July 6th. 



D. 

Mr. Phillips and Miss Barnard were married July 11, 1738 ; 
their children were : — 

1. Theodore, born May 2, 1739; baptized May 6; died 
January 25, 1740. 

2. Hannah, born January 20, 1742; baptized January — ; 
died June 15, 1764. 

3. Samuel, born November 6, 1743; baptized November 
6 ; died December 24, 1744. 

4. Theodore, born September 6, 1745 ; baptized September 
— ; died December 1, 1758. 

5. Elizabeth, born October 31, 1747 ; baptized October — 
died June 24, 1748. 

6. Samuel, born February 5, 1752 ; baptized February — 
died February 10, 1802. 

7. Elizabeth, born October 18, 1755 ; baptized October — 
died April 19, 1757. 

See Bond's Gen. & Hist, of Watertown, p. 881. Records 
of First Church in Andover ; Abbot's History of Andover 
etc. etc. ; in the date of the last Samuel's birth, as here given 
according to the various records in Andover, which we con 
sider decisive, there is a slight variance from Dr. Bond, and 



APPENDIX. 347 

also from other notices of him ; the day of the baptism of 
these children is not usually entered in the records of the 
church, but only the month. It will be noticed from these 
dates, that three of the children died subsequent to his birth, 
and that but one, except Samuel, lived beyond early child- 
hood, and that one many years his elder, rather than a child 
with him in age and sympathy. 



E. 

Under date of August 19, 1769, he writes in his Journal, — 
" Came to Cambridge Wednesday, and found I was put with 
Osgood in chamber No. 26, Hollis Hall ; very good chamber. 
This afternoon I received a copy of a vote wherein I was or- 
dered to sit between Vassal and Murray ; it occasions con- 
siderable talk. Some say I bought it, others, I have tried for 
it ; but promotion always breeds enemies, and envious ones 
are the most spiteful ; let me be interested in the Lord, and 
no matter who is against me." 

The remonstrance of his father to the College government 
upon the subject, is referred to in the Records of the Faculty, 
as follows, — "At a meeting of the Tutors of Harvard Col- 
lege, August 18, 1769, present Mr. Eliot, Mr. Scales, Mr. 
Hillyard, Mr. Willard ; Samuel Phillips, of Andover, Esquire, 
having some time ago entered a complaint to the President 
and Tutors, that his son, Samuel Phillips, a student at the 
College, had not his proper place in the class ; particularly, 
that he did not rank with the sons of those gentlemen who 
were Justices of the Quorum, when he himself had been in 
the Commissions of the Peace and Quorum unus, a longer 
time than any of them, — and having had, from the late Pres- 
ident Holyoke and others in the government of the College, 
a promise, that the records at the Secretary's office should be 



348 APPENDIX. 

consulted, and if it did appear that there was a mistake, it 
should be rectified: — the Secretary's book having been ac- 
cordingly consulted, it appeared, that Mr. Phillips was put 
into the Comnriission of the Peace in the year 1752, and that 
he was made Justice of the Quorum, November 19, 1761 ; 
that John Murray, Esquire, (whose son is placed at the head 
of the sons of the Justices,) was put into the Commission 
of the Peace January, 1754, and was made Justice of the 
Quorum in 1762. 

" Therefore, Voted, That Phillips, son to the above-men- 
tioned Samuel Phillips, Esquire, do for the futxu'e take his 
place between Vassal and Murray — and ordered, that Mr. 
Eliot, tutor to the class in which Phillips is thus placed, do 
deliver a copy of the above vote to him." 



F. 

In connection with the termination of the siege of Bos- 
ton, we here insert some of the congratulations with which 
Washington was honored, as a fit contrast to his own 
and others' long-continued discontents while it was in pro- 
gress. 

" The selectmen of Boston waited upon the General and 
presented the following address : — 

" May it please your Excellency, — The selectmen of 
Boston, in behalf of themselves and fellow-citizens, with all 
grateful respect, congratulate your excellency on the success 
of your military operations, in the recovery of this town 
from an enemy, collected from the once respected Britons, 
who, in this instance, are characterized by malice and fraud, 
rapine and plunder, in every trace left behind them. 

" Happy are we that this acquisition has been made with 



APPENDIX. 349 

SO little effusion of human blood, which, next to the Divine 
favor, permit us to ascribe to your excellency's wisdom, evi- 
denced in every part of this long besiegement. 

" If it be possible to enhance the noble feelings of that 
person, who from the most affluent enjoyments, could throw 
himself into the hardships of a camp, to save his country, 
uncertain of success, 'tis then possible this victory will 
heighten your excellency's happiness, when you consider you 
have not only saved a large, elegant, and once populous city, 
from total destruction, but relieved the few wretched inhabi- 
tants from all the horrors of a besieged town, from the insults 
and abuses of a disgraced and chagrined army, and restored 
many inhabitants to their quiet habitations, who had fled for 
safety to the bosom of their country. May your excellency 
live to see the just rights of America settled on a firm basis, 
which felicity we sincerely wish you ; and at a late period, 
may that felicity be changed into happiness eternal ! 

" To his Excellency, George Washington, Esq., 

" General of the United Forces in America." 

On the 29th of March, the Provincial Congress sent in from 
Watertown, a joint committee of the Council and Represen- 
tatives, with a long and flattering testimonial. It alluded to 
the early resistance of this Colony to the tyrannical policy 
" impelled by self-preservation and the love of freedom : " 
to the satisfaction at the appointment of Washington to be 
commander-in-chief; to the wisdom, and prudence, and suc- 
cess of his measures ; and it concluded as follows : — " May 
you still go on, approved by Heaven, revered by all good 
men, and dreaded by those tyrants who claim their fellow 
men as their property. May the United Colonies be defended 
from slavery by your victorious arms. May they still see 
their enemies flying before you ; and (the deliverance of your 
country being effected) may you, in retirement, enjoy that 
peace and satisfaction of mind which always attend the good 
and great ; and may future generations, in the peaceable en- 

30 



350 APPENDIX. 

joyment of that freedom the exercise of which your sword 
shall have established, raise the richest and most lasting mon- 
uments to the name of Washington." 

The Continental Congress heard of the evacuation of 
Boston on the 25th, and " immediately, on the motion of 
John Adams, passed a vote of thanks to Washington, and 
the ofhcers and soldiers under his command, for their wise 
and spirited conduct, and ordered a gold medal to be struck 
and presented to the General; — also appointed a committee, 
consisting of John Adams, John Jay, and Stephen Hopkins, 
to prepare a letter of thanks. This letter was reported to 
Congress and adopted April 2, namely : — 

"Philadelphia, April 2, 1776. 

" Sir, — It gives me the most sensible pleasure to convey 
to you, by order of Congress, the only tribute which a free 
people will ever consent to pay, — the tribute of thanks and 
gratitude to their friends and benefactors. 

" The disinterested and patriotic principles which led you 
to the field, have also led you to glory ; and it affords no lit- 
tle consolation to your countrymen to reflect, that as a pecu- 
liar greatness of mind induced you to decline any compensa- 
tion for serving them, except the pleasure of promoting their 
happiness, they may, without your permission, bestow upon 
you the largest share of their affection and esteem. 

" Those pages in the annals of America will record your 
title to a conspicuous place in the temple of fame, which 
shall inform posterity that, under your directions, an undisci- 
plined band of husbandmen, in the course of a few months, 
became soldiers ; and that the desolation meditated against 
the country by a brave army of veterans, commanded by the 
most experienced generals, but employed by bad men, in the 
worst of causes, was, by the fortitude of your troops, and the 
address of their officers, next to the kind interposition of 
Providence, confined for near a year within such narrow lim- 



APPENDIX. 351 

its as scarcely to admit more room than was necessary for 
the encampments and fortifications they lately abandoned. 

" Accept, therefore, Sir, the thanks of the United Colonies, 
unanimously declared by their delegates to be due to you, 
and the brave officers and troops under your command ; and 
be pleased to communicate to them this distinguished mark 
of the approbation of their country. 

" The Congress have ordered a gold medal, adapted to the 
occasion, to be struck, and, when finished, to be presented 
to you. 

" 1 have the honor to be, with every sentiment of esteem, 
Sir, your most obedient and very humble servant, 

"John Hancock, President. 

" To His Excellency, Geokge Washington." 

The medal, which was struck in Paris, frbm a die cut by 
Duvivier, contains on the obverse a head of Washington in 
profile, exhibiting an excellent likeness, and around it the 
inscription, 

" Georgio Washington, supremo duci exercituum adsertori 
. libertatis comitia americana." 

On the reverse is the town of Boston in the distance, with 
a fleet in view under sail. Washington and his officers are 
on hoi'seback in the foreground, and he is pointing to the 
ships as they depart from the harbor. The inscription is : — 

"hostibus primo fugatis bostonium recuperatum, xvii. martii, 

mdcclxxvi." ^ 

Among other testimonials which he received at this time, 
the Corporation and Overseers of Harvard University con- 
ferred upon Washington the Honorary degree of Doctor of 
Laws, " as an expression of the gratitude of this College for 
his eminent services in the cause of his country, and to this 
society." He was the first person on whom the College con- 

* Spark's Works of Washington, Vol. I. p. 175; Vol. III. p. 533, 534; 
also Frothingham's History of the Siege of Boston, p. 316-320. 



352 APPENDIX. 

ferred this degree. The diploma "was signed by all the 
members of the Corporation, except John Hancock, who was 
then in Philadelphia, and it was immediately published in 
the newspapers of the period, with an English translation." ^ 
The diploma is as follows : — 

" Senatus AcademisB Cantabrigiensis in Nov. Anglia omni- 
bus in Christo fidelibus, ad quos literse praesentes pervenerint, 
salutem in Domino sempiternam. 

" Cum eum in finem Gradus Academici instituti fuerint, 
ut Viri Scientia, sapientia, et virtu te insignes, qui de Re liter- 
aria et de Re Publico, optime meruerint, honoribus hisce lau- 
reatis remunerarenter ; maxime decet ut honore tali afficiatur 
Vir illustrissimus Georgius Washington, Armiger Exercitus 
Coloniarum in America Foederatarum Imperator prceclarus. 
cujus scientia et amor patriae undique patent ; qui propter 
eximias virtutes tam civiles quam militares, primum, a civi- 
bus suis Legatus electus, in Consessu celeberrimo Americano 
de Libertate ad extremum periclitata, et de Salute publica, 
fideliter et peritissime consuluit; deinde, postulante Patria, 
sedem in Virginia amoenissimam et res proprias perlubenter 
rcliquit, ut per omnes castrorum labores et pericula, nulla 
mercede accepta, Nov-Angliam ab armis Britannorum iniquis 
et crudelibus liberaret, et Colonias caeteras tuereter ; et qui, 
sub Auspiciis Divinis maxime Spectandis, ab Urbe BostoniS, 
per undecim menses clausa, munita, et pkisquam septem 
millium militum praesidio firmata, naves et copias hostium in 
fugam praecipitem et probrosam deturbavit; adeo ut cives, 
plurimis duritiis et saevitiis oppressi, tandem salvi laetentur, 
villffi vicinae quiescant, atque sedibus suis Academia nostra 
restituatur. 

" Sciatis igitur, quod nos Praeses et socii Collegii Harvar- 
dini in Cantabridgia Nov-Anglorura (consentientibus hono- 
randis admodum et reverendis AcademiaB nostra Inspectori- 
bus) Dominum supradictum, summo honore dignum, Geor- 

' Quincy's History of Harvard University, Vol. II. p. 167. 



APPENDIX. 353 

gium Washington, Doctorem Utriusque Juris, turn Naturae 
et Gentium, turn Civiiis, statuimus et creavimus, eique simul 
dedimus et concessimus omnia jura, privilegia, et honores ad 
istum gradum pertinentia. 

" In cujus rei testimonium nos, communi sigillo Universi- 
tatis hisce Uteris affixo, chirographa apposuimus die tertio 
Aprilis, anno salutis millesimo septingentesimo septuagesimo 
sexto." ^ 



G. 

To assist any who may feel an interest in ti'acing out the 
localities of so early a period here, we insert brief memo- 
randa of the deeds, not only of the territory first purchased 
by the Founders of the Academy, but of various later pur- 
chases, covering together the entire tract on " Andover 
Hill." The references are to the Treasurer's files in Phillips 
Academy : — 

I. January 24, 1777: Deed A, copy. 
Solomon Wardwell to Samuel Phillips, Esq. 
This deed covers two tracts ; the fijrst, of about twenty- 
two acres, on which was an old house and a joiner's shop, 
lying on the west side of our Main street, and extending 
along the line of the old road, as the large elms now stand, 
from the corner of Phillips street, southwardly, nearly to the 
old well on the common, south-east of the Printing-house ; 
and westwardly on Phillips street, to a point nearly opposite 
the old house, west of the Latin Dormitories : — the second, 
of about seventeen acres, lying on the east side of the old 
road, and including the whole space from a point by the 
road nearly opposite the President's House, so-called, north- 

^ Quincy's History of Harvard University, Vol. H. Appendix, No. XIX. 
p. 506, 507. 

30* 



o 



54 APPENDIX 



westerly down to the double-brick house, thence easterly by 
the Stone Academy, around to a point near Bartlett Hall ; 
and thence, by an irregular line westerly, across the Semi- 
nary Lawn to the road again. 

II. March 1, 1777: Deed B, copy. 

Joshua Holt, Administrator on Estate of George Abbott, to Samuel 

Phillips, Esq. 

This deed conveys three parcels ; the first, of twelve acres, 
lying north of Phillips street, and west of Main and School 
streets, extending northerly toward the Village nearly to the 
English Dormitories, and westerly a short distance beyond 
the old house, by the Latin Dormitories. This old house 
was the dwelling of George Abbott, and was occupied as 
mentioned in the text, for some years, by Judge Phillips, 
after its purchase for the school : — the second, of twenty- 
eight acres, lying across the road from this old house, 
and west of the first piece obtained from Solomon Ward- 
well : — the third, of thirty acres, lying beyond the Hill on 
the south, and extending from a point near Mrs. Flagg's 
east, about forty rods, then south to the old cross road, then 
westerly along this road to a point near Samuel Abbott's, 
then northerly to the road near Moses Abbott's, and then 
northeasterly by this road to the point of beginning. 

III. October 9, 1784: Deed No. 9. 

Isaac Blunt to the Trustees of Phillips Academy. 

This deed describes the common opposite the Mansion 
House, called the " Old Training Field," twenty-two rods 
southerly from the corner by the old road, eighteen and three- 
quarter rods easterly on the Salem road. The deed in this 
case is to the Trustees, but an entry in the Academy journal 
shows that the land was bought by the three brothers, Sam- 
uel, John, and William Phillips, in connection with the 
building of the " New Academy " about this date, and was 



APPENDIX, 355 

given by them, with the building, to the Trustees. See Old 
Academy Journal, p. 6, where the language is "the Academy 
and land south of the same., etc." 

IV. September 1, 1792: Deed No. 11. 
Samuel Phillips to the Trustees of Phillips Academy. 
This deed of Judge Phillips, covers three and one-quarter 
acres in the southwesterly portion of the present Seminary 
lawn, being the lot on which the second Academy build- 
ing, above referred to, was erected by his father and un- 
cles in 1785. Mr. Phillips had obtained this land, with 
a section east of it, from William Foster, January 15, 1782, 
as referred to in the text (see Deed C, copy). The por- 
tion conveyed by him to the Trustees, extended from the 
corner northwesterly about twenty rods, and east twenty 
rods ; an entry in the Academy Journal, p. 1, shows that he 
deeded this lot to the Trustees in exchange for the site of his 
mansion-house, one and a half acres. 

V. January 10, 1801 : Deed No. 16. 
Asa Towne to the Trustees of Phillips Academy. 
This deed describes the site of the Adams House, so-called, 
etc., an acre and a half, on which a small dwelling-house was 
standing, which is now the L of the Adams House, bound- 
ing on the Common twenty rods, and on the Salem road 
twelve rods. The Adams House, as now standing, was 
erected here in 1805, and was first occupied by Dr. Pearson 
in the spring of 1806. — Academy Records, p. 198. 

VI. April 15, 1809: Deed No. 21. 
Isaac Blunt to the Trustees of Phillips Academy. 
This deed conveys the site of the Brick Academy and the 
lot south, about two and one fifth acres, bounded on the Sa- 
lem road eleven and a half rods. 



356 APPENDIX. 

Vn. June 9, 1812: Deed No. 24. 
Phcehe Phillips to the Trustees of Phillips Academy. 
This deed conveys the mansion-house of Judge Phillips 
with about nine acres of land adjoining the same, extend- 
ing on the street southerly to the premises occupied by 
the late Professor Stuart ; also the Blanchard Lot and 
House, so-called, now in the Seminary lawn, containing 
about three acres, extending northward to include the 
present site of Bartlett Hall, being the remainder of the 
tract obtained by Mr. Phillips of William Foster (Deed C, 
copy). All the land now common between the Mansion- 
house, Printing-house, etc., and the row of large elms in 
front, then within the fence, was thrown out by Mr. Farrar 
at a later date, in connection with the building of the houses 
for Dr. Griffin and Dr. Woods. 

Vm, July 8, 1814 : Deed No. 26. 

The Trustees of the Ministerial Fund in the South Parish in 
Andover to the Trustees of Phillips Academy. 

This is a deed of a piece of land, sixty square rods, lying 
between our Main and School streets, north-west of the Stone 
Academy ; in the change of the old road now School street, 
a portion of this tract was cut off; the deed bounds it four- 
teen rods on the turnpike now Main street. 

IX. April 1, 1815: Deed No. 29. 
Samuel Farrar to the Trustees of Phillips Academy. 
This is a deed of " the Chandler Pasture," as it was long 
termed ; a tract of seven and a half acres, north and east of 
the Stone Academy, bounded on Main street northerly nine 
rods, and on the private way easterly about thirty-six rods, 
including the sites of the Samaritan House and Professor 
Stowe's residence. Mr. Farrar had purchased this lot a year 
or two previous on his own account, but with a view to its 
passing finally to the Trustees. 



APPENDIX. 357 

X. August 30, 1815: Deed No. 27. 
Benjamin Gleason to the Trustees of Phillips Academy. 
This deed conveys the Gleason House, so called, now oc- 
cupied by Dr. S. C. Jackson, with the land, bounded on 
Main street northerly from the corner of the Chandler Pas- 
ture, 23 rods. This was Lot No. 1 of the Parish lands, sold 
at auction April 18, 1810. 

XL April 20, 1818: Deed No. 30. 

Hannah Poor and Daniel A. Poor to the Trustees of Phillips 

Academy. 

This deed conveys a tract of a little more than eight acres, 
westward of the original Phillips purchase from the estate of 
George Abbott, and on the northerly side of Phillips street, 
bounded on Academy street forty -two rods : this section in- 
cludes the present site of the West House, so called, and the 
three adjoining lots north and west of the same. 

XII. April 29, 1818 : Deed No. 31. 
Marie Newman to the Trustees of Phillips Academy. 
This deed covers the Brown Professor's house and lot, and 
the site of the book bindery and store beyond ; containing 
about two acres, being the same lot of land obtained by 
Mr. Newman of Isaac Blunt, March 13, 1805, on which Mr. 
Newman had erected the dwelling-house and store as now 
standing. The dwelling-house was assigned to the Brown 
Professor, by vote of the Trustees in 1843, in connection 
with a donation by Miss Banister of $4,000, as an equiva- 
lent for the same. — Seminary Records, Vol. II. p. 22. 

XIII. May 8, 1818: Deed No. 39. 

William Bartlett to the Trustees of Phillips Academy. 

This deed, conveys, (1st) the President's House, so called, 

with the land adjoining, which Mr. Bartlett had bought of 

the Trustees in order to build on it : (2d) the Stuart House, 



358 APPENDIX. 

and twelve and a half acres of land which he had bought of 
Madam Phillips, May 8, 1810, in order to build on it also ; 
bounded on the street in front fourteen and three fourths rods. 
This land was part of a purchase by Judge Phillips of 
Ebenezer Jones and wife, heirs of Samuel Abbott, made 
March 19, 1782, as he was arranging to erect the mansion- 
house (see Deed JD, copy) ; (3d) a small piece back of the 
Seminary, which Mr. Bartlett bought of Isaac Blunt, August 
29, 1809 ; and (4th) the Chapel. 

XIV. August 16, 1820: Deed No. 36. 
Isaac Blunt to the Trustees of Phillips Academy. 
This is a deed of a small lot of two and a half acres back 
of the Seminary, now included in the Garden and Cemetery. 

XV. September 6, 1823 : Deed 38. 
Isaac Blunt to the Trustees of Phillips Academy. 
This is a deed of about two and a half acres northerly of 
the Seminary. 

XVI. March 23, 1824 : Deed No. 37. 
Amos Holt to the Trustees of Phillips Academy. 
This' deed covers the narrow strip of land between the 
two streets beyond the Printing-house, which is to be kept as 
a common, upon which Mr. Holt w^as preparing to erect a 
cooper's shop : and also a small section nearly in front of the 
double brick house, between the turnpike and the line of the 
old road, on which Levi Davis attempted at one time to 
build a three story house with brick ends, but a violent wind 
prostrated the building, when Mr. Davis sold the lot to Mr. 
Holt. 

XVII. December 1, 1829: Deed No. 44. 
Jonathan Clement to the Trustees of Phillips Academy. 
This deed conveys the Clement House, so called, and land 



I 



APPENDIX. 359 

adjoining, about three and a half acres, on which the English 
Dormitories now stand, including the avenue in front of them 
to the road, and the lot north and west. 

XVm. March 25, 1831 : Deed No. 46. 
Isaac Blunt to the Trustees of Phillips Academy. 
This deed conveys fifteen and a half acres east and north- 
east of the Seminary, adjoining lots previously sold by Mr. 
Blunt to the Trustees. 

XIX. December 24, 1825: Deed No. 68. 
Leonard Woods to the Trustees of Phillips Academy. 
This is a deed of two and a third acres, north-east of the 
Seminary, which Dr. Woods had bought of Mr. Blunt, 
September 7, 1819. 

XX. October 12, 1830: Deed No. 5l'. 
Isaac Blunt to the Trustees of Phillips Academy. 

This is a deed of " the gravel pit," being the tract directly 
south of the Cemetery and Garden, about an acre and one 
third. 

XXI. March 15, 1833 : Deed No. 55. 
David Hidden to the Trustees of Phillips Academy. 

This is a deed of a pasture, upwards of nine acres, back 
of the premises occupied by the late Professor Stuart, and is 
appropriated to the Brown Professorship. 

XXn. September 22, 1853: Deed No. 71. 

Henry J. Gray to the Trustees of Phillips Academy. 

This deed conveys the Gray House, so called, on the point 

between Main and School streets, opposite the Gleason 

House ; and completes the title of the Trustees to all lands 

adjoining the highways across the hill in every direction. 



o 



60 APPENDIX. 



The remaining portions of the tract of pasturage north 
and north-east of the Seminary along the line of Pike street 
including the woodland, in that region, came to the Trustees, 
through the estate of Henry Abbot, under a mortgage of 
Samuel Abbott, Esquire, which had been foreclosed. 



H. 

One peculiarity of the Act, incorporating the Academy, is 
the summary rehearsal of its Constitution which it embodies, 
while the whole is made to conform so exactly to Judge Phil- 
lips's style as well as to his views, that no other evidence of 
its authorship is needed. We insert the Act with the various 
signatures. 

1780 — Oct. 4. 

STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY — AN ACT TO INCORPORATE AN 
ACADEMY IN THE TOWN OF ANDOVER, BY THE NAME OF 
PHILLIPS ACADEMY. 

Preamble. 

Whereas the education of youth has ever been consid- 
ered by the wise and good, as an object of the highest con- 
sequence to the safety and happiness of a people ; as at that 
period the mind easily receives and retains impressions, is 
formed with peculiar advantage to piety and virtue, and di- 
rected to the pursuit of the most useful knowledge : and, 
whereas the Honorable Samuel Phillips of Andover, in the 
County of Essex, Esq., and the Honorable John Phillips of 
Exeter, in the County of Rockingham, and State of New 
Hampshire, Esq., on the first day of April, in the year of our 
Lord, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight, by a 
legal Instrument of that date, gave, granted, and assigned to 






APPENDIX. 361 

the Honorable William Phillips, Esquire, and others, therein 
named, and to their heirs, divers lots and parcels of land, in 
said Instrument described, as well as certain other estate, to 
the use and upon the trust following, namely, that the rents, 
profits, and interest thereof, be forever laid out and expended 
by the Trustees in the said Instrument named, for the sup- 
port of a Public Free School or Academy, in the town of 
Andover : — and, whereas the execution of the generous and 
important design of the grantors aforesaid will be attended 
with very great embarrassments, unless by an act of incorpo- 
ration, the Trustees, mentioned in the said Instrument, and 
their successors, shall be authorized to commence and prose- 
cute actions at law, and transact such other matters in their 
corporate capacity, as the interest of the said Academy shall 
require : — 

Academy Established. 

I. Be it therefore enacted by the Council and House of 
Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the au- 
thority of the same ; that there be and hereby is established 
in the Town of Andover, and County of Essex, an Academy, 
by the name of Phillips Academy, for the purpose of promot- 
ing true piety and virtue, and for the education of youth, in 
the English, Latin, and Greek languages, together with Writ- 
ing, Arithmetic, Music, and the Art of Speaking; also prac- 
tical Geometry, Logic, and Geography, and such other of 
the liberal Arts and Sciences, or Languages, as opportunity 
may hereafter permit, and as the Trustees, hereinafter pro- 
vided, shall direct. 

Trustees Appointed and Incorporated. 

II. Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that 
the Hon. Samuel Phillips of Andover aforesaid, Esq., the 
Hon. John Phillips of Exeter aforesaid, Esq., the Hon. Wil- 
liam Phillips and Oliver Wendell, Esqs., and John Lowell, 
Esq., of Boston, in the County of Suffolk, and State of Mas- 

31 



362 APPENDIX. 

sachusetts Bay, the Rev. Josiah Stearns of Epping, in the 
County of Rockingham aforesaid, the Reverend William 
Symmes of said Andover, the Reverend Elias Smith of 
Middleton, in the said County of Essex, the Reverend Jona- 
than French, Samuel Phillips, Jun'r, Esq., Mr. Eliphalet 
Pearson, gentlemen, and Mr. Nehemiah Abbot, yeoman, all 
of Andover aforesaid, be, and they hereby are nominated and 
appointed Trustees of said Academy ; and they are hereby 
incorporated into a body politic, by the name of the Trustees 
of Phillips Academy; and that they, and their successors, 
shall be and continue a body politic and corporate, by the 
same name forever. 

Lands Confirmed to the Trustees. 

III. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, 
that all the lands and monies, which, by a legal Instrument, 
bearing date the first day of April, in the year of our Lord, 
one thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight, were given, 
granted, and assigned, by the afore-mentioned Samuel Phil- 
lips and John Phillips, unto the said William Phillips, Oli- 
ver Wendell, John Lowell, Josiah Stearns, William Symmes, 
Elias Smith, Jonathan French, Samuel Phillips, Jun'r, Eli- 
phalet Pearson, and Nehemiah Abbot, and to their heirs, be, 
and they hereby are confirmed to the said William Phillips 
and others, last named, and to their successors, as Trustees 
of Phillips Academy forever, for the uses and purposes, and 
upon the Trust, which in said Instrument are expressed : 
and the Trustees aforesaid, their successors, and the officers 
of the said Academy, are hereby required in conducting the 
concerns thereof, and in all matters relating thereto, to regu- 
late themselves conformably to the true design and intention 
of the said grantors, as expressed in their instrument above 
mentioned. 

Trustees to have one common Seal. — May Sue and be Sued. 

IV. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, 



APPENDIX. 363 

that the said Trustees and their successors, shall have one 
common Seal, which they may make use of in any cause or 
business that relates to the said office of Trustees of the said 
Academy ; and they shall have power and authority to break, 
change, and renew the said Seal, from time to time, as they 
shall see fit ; and that they may Sue and be Sued in all ac- 
tions real, personal, and mixed, and prosecute and defend the 
same unto final judgment and execution, by the name of the 
Trustees of Phillips Academy. 

Empowered to Elect their Officers, and Ordain Rules, etc. 

V. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, 
that the said Samuel Phillips and others, the Trustees afore- 
said, and their successors, the longest livers and survivors of 
them, be the true and sole Visitors, Trustees, and Governors 
of the said Phillips Academy, in perpetual succession forever; 
to be continued in the way and manner hereafter specified, 
with full power and authority to elect such officers of the 
said Academy, as to them, the said Trustees, Governors, and 
Visitors aforesaid, and their successors, shall from time to 
time, according to the various occasions and circumstances 
seem most fit and requisite ; all which shall be observed by 
the officers, scholars, and servants of the said Academy, upon 
the penalties therein contained: provided notwithstanding, 
that the said rules, laws, and orders be no ways contrary to 
the laws of this State. 

Number of Trustees not to exceed thirteen. 

VI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, 
that the number of the Trustees aforesaid, and their suc- 
cessors, shall not at any one time be more than thirteen nor 
less than seven; seven of whom shall constitute a quorum 
for transacting business, and the major part of the members 
present at any legal meeting, shall decide all questions that 
shall come before them, except in the instances hereinafter 
excepted. 



364 APPENDIX. 

The principal Instructor to be one. 

That the principal Instructor for the time being, shall ever 
be one of them ; that a major part shall be laymen and re- 
spectable freeholders ; also, that a major part shall consist of 
men who are not inhabitants of the town where the Sem- 
inary is situate. And to perpetuate the succession of said 
Trustees. 

Vacancies of Trustees, how supplied. 

VII. Be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that 
as often as one or more of the Trustees of said Phillips 
Academy shall die or resign, or in the judgment of a major 
part of the other Trustees be rendered by age or otherwise, 
incapable of discharging the duties of his office, then, and so 
often, the Trustees then surviving and remaining, or the 
major part of them, shall elect one or more persons to supply 
the vacancy or vacancies. 

The Trustees to be deemed capable in the law to take and receive by gift, 

grant, etc. 

VIII. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, 
that the Trustees aforesaid, and their successors, be and they 
hereby are rendered capable in law to take and receive by 
gift, grant, devise, bequest, or otherwise, any lands, tenements, 
or other estate, real and personal ; provided that the annual 
income of the said real estate shall not exceed the sum of 
five hundred pounds, and the annual income of the said per- 
sonal estate shall not exceed the sum of two thousand 
pounds, both sums to be valued in silver at the rate of six 
shillings and eight pence by the ounce ; to have and to hold 
the same to them, the said Trustees and their successors, on 
such terms and under such provisions and limitations, as 
may be expressed in any deed or instrument of conveyance 
to them made ; provided always, that neither the said Trus- 
tees, nor their successors, shall ever hereafter receive any 



APPENDIX. 365 

grant or donation, the condition whereof shall require them 
or any others concerned, to act in any respect counter to the 
design of the first grantors, or of any prior donation. And 
all deeds and instruments, which the said Trustees may law- 
fully make, shall, when made in the name of the said Trus- 
tees, and signed and delivered by their Treasurer, and sealed 
with the common seal, bind the said Trustees and their suc- 
cessors, and be valid in law. 

Two thirds of said Trustees empowered to remove the Seminar)\ 

IX. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, 
that if it shall hereafter be judged, upon mature and impartial 
consideration of all circumstances, by two thirds of all the 
Trustees, that, for good and substantial reasons, which at this 
time do not exist, the true design of this Institution will be 
better promoted by removing the Seminary from the place 
where it is founded, in that case it shall be in the power of 
the said Trustees, to remove it accordingly, and to establish 
it in such place within this State as they shall judge to be 
best calculated for carrying into effectual execution the inten- 
tion of the founders.^ 

In the House of Representatives, October 4, 1780. 
This Bill having been read several times, passed to be 
enacted. John Hancock, Speaker. 

In Council, October 4, 1780. 

This Bill having had two several readings, passed to be 
enacted. John Avery, D. Secretary. 

We consent to the enacting of this bill. 

S. Gushing, T. Danielson, Samuel Niles, 

J. Fisher, Benj. Austin, A. Fuller, 

Moses Gill, N. Gushing, Jno. Pitts, 

H. Gardner, Wm. Whiting, Stephen Ghoate. 

* Acts and Laws of Massachusetts, 1780, p. 327-329. 

31* 



366 APPENDIX. 

The above subscription, and also the caption to the Act 
Incorporating the Academy, is copied from the original docu- 
ment on file in the office of the Secretary of State in Boston. 
The Preamble there stands in tlie handwriting of Judge 
Phillips, and also the first enacting clause in part. The re- 
mainder of the manuscript is partly in his hand, and partly 
in that of two others. 



I. 

The following letter from the present Principal of the 
Exeter Academy, in reply to inquiries recently addressed to 
him, will be read with interest for the information it sum- 
marily presents, in regard to the history and the present con- 
dition of this Institution. 

"Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, June 22, 1856. 

" Dear Sir, — I have been prevented from attending sooner 
to the inquiries contained in your letter ; I must now be brief 
in my answers. 

" 1. The Act of Incorporation of the Phillips Exeter Acad- 
emy is dated April 3, 1781. 

"2. A meeting of the Trustees was held on the 31st of 
April, 1783 ; and Benjamin Thurston was ' appointed to ad- 
dress the Preceptor on his induction to his academical func- 
tion,' and the meeting was adjourned till the next day, when, 
May 1st, 1783, I suppose the Preceptor, William Wood- 
bridge, entered upon the duties of his office. There is a 
tradition that the school had been in operation some weeks 
before, conducted by one of the Trustees, but no record of it. 

" 3. I am not able to say what was the cost of the original 
Academy buildings. The first building was sold ; and the 
present must have cost from seven to ten thousand dollars. 



APPENDIX. 367 

In 1821, wings were added to this building at a cost of 
about twenty-live hundred dollars. ' Abbot Hall,' a substan- 
tial and exceedingly convenient building, has been erected 
within the last year. This building is for the accommoda- 
tion of the poorer class of students. It is a boarding-house, 
accommodating fifty students with very good rooms without 
rent. The cost of this building was about eighteen thousand 
dollars. The amount expended for buildings, up to the pres- 
ent time, must be nearly thirty thousand dollars, including 
the house occupied by the Principal. 

" 4. Nothing has been received, in addition to the original 
endowment, for the general purposes of the Institution. One 
thousand dollars was left by the late Nicholas Gilman for 
instruction in sacred music ; and one hundred dollars by the 
late Leverett Saltonstall of Salem, Massachusetts, for the 
Library. 

" The present amount of productive funds may be stated, 
in round numbers, at one hundred thousand dollars, perhaps 
a little less. 

" 5. Whole number of pupils, twenty-nine hundred. 

" 6. A marble slab, with an appropriate inscription, covers 
the grave of the Founder. There is no written memorial of 
him. Neither the Act of Incorporation, nor the Constitution 
of the Academy, has ever been printed. 

" In great haste, very respectfully, 

" Gideon L. Soule." 



J. 

The record of the action of the Trustees on this occasion, 
dated March 29, 1788, is as follows : — 

" Understanding it is proposed that the meeting-house in 
this place should be taken down, — 

" Voted, That the inhabitants of the South Parish be in- 



368 APPENDIX. 

formed, that they shall be welcome to the use of the Acade- 
my chamber for the purpose of public worship, after the 
present meeting-house shall be taken down, until the meet- 
ing-house, that shall be erected in its place, can be fit for use, 
if agreeable to the parish. 

" Voted^ That the Honorable Samuel Phillips, Jr., be a 
committee to communicate the above vote to the parish." ^ 

The old meeting-house, as appears from the church records, 
was occupied for the last time April 2.0, 1788, when Rev. Mr. 
French preached from Haggai i. 7 and 8 : " Thus saith the 
Lord of hosts, consider your ways ; go up to the .mountain 
and bring wood, and build the house ; and 1 will take pleas- 
ure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord." The new 
house was raised on the 26th and 27th of May ; and, after 
occupying the Academy Hall thirty-two Sabbaths, the pastor 
preached a discourse at the opening of this new church, on 
the Lord's day, December 7th, from the text John x. 22, 23 : 
" And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and 
it was winter ; And Jesus walked in the Templet 



K. 

In the Chronicle of June 19, 1788, and in succeeding issues 
of that paper, the following advertisement was printed, and 
is here inserted as an illustration of the care and thorough- 
ness of Judge Phillips in such services: — 

" Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 
" The subscribers, appointed a committee to sell unappro- 
priated lands belonging to the Commonwealth, and lying 
within the counties of York, Cumberland, and Lincoln, do 
hereby notify the public : — 

' Academy Records, p. 69. 



APPENDIX. 369 

" That there are for sale large and valuable tracts of land, 
situated between the Highlands and the Atlantic Ocean, from 
north to south ; and between the river St. Croix and the 
State of New Hampshire, from east to west. The many- 
fine rivers which have their sources in that tract, among 
which are the rivers Kennebec and Penobscot, running nearly 
parallel, at about forty miles distance, above one hundred and 
fifty miles Mdthin the country above described, and navigable 
for vessels of almost any burden for fifty miles ; the great 
number of excellent harbors on the sea-coast, their neighbor- 
hood to the fishing-banks of Newfoundland ; the large quan- 
tities of salmon, shad, and alewives in the rivers, and the"* 
great plenty of valuable pine and other timber, give the fair- 
est prospect that this country will, in a very few years, become 
the principal source from whence the West India Islands will 
draw their supplies. No country is better calculated for graz- 
ing, and the great improvements made in agriculture within 
the last ten years, evidence that the soil is exceeding good, 
and capable of producing wheat, rye, Indian corn, flax, peas, 
potatoes, and every species of vegetables which grow in any 
of the New England States. Besides lumber, fish, and pot- 
ashes, beef, butter, peas, and flax-seed have already become 
articles of exportation, and in a few years will be added 
thereto cheese, barley, hemp, and flax. The above lands will 
be laid out in townships of six miles square, and will be 
sold by the township, half township, or mile square, as may 
best suit the purchaser, and the consolidated notes of this 
Commonwealth received in payment. 

" When it is considered that a township of six miles square 
between the Kennebec and Penobscot, is ordered by Govern- 
ment to be laid out and appropriated for the building and 
supporting a public Seminary of Learning; that in each 
town there are reserved four lots of three hundred and twenty 
acres each for public uses, and that the lands are exempted 
from all Slate taxes for ten years; the committee flatter them- 
selves that the most valuable tracts will find a ready sale. 



370 APPENDIX. 

" Every application will be duly attended to, and every per- 
son inclined to purchase, as far as possible, accommodated by 
applying to 

" Samuel Phillips, Jun., at Andover, County of Essex. 

" Nathaniel Wells, at Wells, County of York. 

" Leonard Jarvis, at Boston, County of Suffolk. 

" John Reed, at Roxbury, County of Suffolk. 

" Daniel Cony, at Hallowell, County of Lincoln. 

" N. B. Any of the above lands will be sold to any for- 
eigner who shall contract to settle thereon, in three years 
from the purchase, one or more families to every mile square. 

"Boston, June 18, 1788." 



L. 

The Resolve of the General Court, making the grants of 
land to the several Institutions, was as follows : — 

"February 27, 1797. 
" Resolved, That in pursuance of a report of a joint spe- 
cial Committee, which has been accepted by both branches 
of the Legislature, there be, and hereby is granted to the 
Trustees of Dummer Academy, to the Trustees of PliiUips 
Academy, to the Trustees of Groton Academy, and to the 
Trustees of Westford Academy, respectively, and to their re- 
spective successors, one half township of six miles square, 
for each of their Academies, to be laid out or assigned by the 
committee for the sale of Eastern lands, in some of the un- 
appropriated lands in the district of Maine, belonging to this 
Commonwealth, excepting all lands within six miles of Pe- 
nobscot River, with the reservations and conditions of settle- 
ment which have usually been made in cases of similar 
grants ; which tracts the said Trustees, respectively, are hereby 



APPENDIX. 371 

empowered to use, sell, or dispose of as they may think most 
for the benefit of their respective Institutions. 

" Samuel Adams, Governor. 

" Samuel Phillips, President of the Senate. 

" Edward H. Robbins, Speaker. 

"John Avery, Secretary. ^^ 



M. 

As this Memoir may, in some cases, fall into the hands of 
those who are not familiar with the character and history of 
the Theological Seminary, we here insert the Instrument by 
which it was founded, and which connects it so closely with 
the origin and progress of the Academy. It would be di- 
gressing too far from our proper work in this Memoir, to give 
other documents and statistics of great interest pertaining to 
the Seminary ; nor have we sought to trace in so very minute 
detail as may be desired by some, the forecastings of such 
an Institution, in the life-long projects of Judge Phillips or 
his associates, lest we should, in so doing, possibly appear 
to incumber our narrative too much, or to appropriate ground, 
which it is expected will be carefully covered by another 
work — Dr. Woods's History of the Seminary. Some inter- 
esting documents, relating to the historical and doctrinal con- 
nection of the two Institutions, we have not had opportunity 
to use, as they were previously tendered to Dr. Woods, and 
many incidents which have come to our knowledge, we have 
refrained from using, that our work might not in any way 
supersede the most elaborate treatment of these interesting 
topics in his, although our field is, at some points, unavoid- 
ably the same. 

The Instrument by which the Seminary was founded, 
drafted by the careful hand of Dr. Eliphalet Pearson, the first 
Principal of the Academy and the intimate friend of Madam 



o 



72 APPENDIX 



Phillips, in consultation sentence by sentence, not only with 
her and her son, but with Rev. Mr. French, and Samuel 
Abbot, and Samuel Farrar, Esquires, is as follows: — 

"CONSTITUTION OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 

" It having pleased the Father of lights and Author of all 
good to inspire the late Honorable Samuel Phillips of Ando- 
ver in the County of Essex and Commonwealth of Massa- 
chusetts Esquire, and the late Honorable John Phillips of 
Exeter in the County of Rockingham and State of New 
Hampshire, Esquire, with the pious determination to make 
' a humble dedication to their Heavenly Benefactor of the 
ability, wherewith He had blessed them,' by laying, in the 
year 1778, in the South Parish in Andover aforesaid, the 
foundation of a public Academy, for the instruction of youth, 
not only in the learned Languages and in various useful Arts 
and Sciences, but principally for the promotion of true piety 
and virtue; — it having also pleased the INFINITE MIND, 
at subsequent periods, to excite the said John Phillips, and 
likewise the late Hon. William Phillips of Boston in the 
County of Suffolk and Commonwealth aforesaid, Esquire, 
to make liberal provision, not only for ' promoting the virtu- 
ous and pious education of indigent youth of genius, and of 
serious disposition, in said Academy ; ' but ' more especially 
for the benefit of charity Scholars of excelling genius, good 
moral character, hopefully pious, and designed for the gi-eat 
and good work of the gospel ministry, who, having acquired 
the most useful human literature, may be assisted in the 
study of Divinity, under the direction of some eminent Cal- 
vinistic Minister of the gospel, until such time, as an able, 
pious, and orthodox Instructor shall be supported in the said 
Academy, as a Professor of Divinity, by whom they may be 
taught the important and distinguishing tenets of our Holy 
Christian Religion ; ' 

" In pursuance therefore of the same benevolent and pious 



APPENDIX. 373 

object, and with a desire to devote a part of the substance, 
with which Heaven has blessed us, to the defence and pro- 
motion of the Christian Rehgion, by making some provision 
for increasing the number of learned and able Defenders of 
the gospel of Christ, as well as of orthodox, pious, and zeal- 
ous Ministers of the New Testament; being moved by the 
same Spirit, which actuated the Founders and Benefactors 
aforesaid, and influenced, as we hope, by a principle of grat- 
itude to God and benevolence to man ; — 

" We, Phobbe Phillips of said Andover, Relict of Samuel 
Phillips Esq., late Lieutenant-Governor of the Common- 
wealth aforesaid, and John Phillips, son of the said Samuel 
Phillips and Phobbe Phillips do hereby jointly and severally 
obligate ourselves to erect and finish, with all convenient de- 
spatch, two separate buildings ; one of which to be three sto- 
ries high, and of such other dimensions as to furnish con- 
venient lodging rooms for fifty Students ; and the other 
building to be two stories high, and of such dimensions as 
to furnish, in addition to a kitchen and private rooms neces- 
sary to a Steward's family, three public rooms, one for a 
dining Hall, one for a Chapel and Lecture room, (each suffi- 
ciently large to accommodate sixty Students) and the third 
for a Library, the said buildings to be located by direction 
of the Trustees of Phillips Academy; — and I, Samuel 
Abbot of Andover aforesaid, Esquire, with the same views, 
and in furtherance of the same design, do hereby give, assign, 
and set over unto the Trustees aforesaid the sum of twenty 
thousand dollars, in trust, as a Fund for the purpose of 
maintaining a professor of Christian Theology (reserving to 
myself the right of appointing the first Professor on this 
Foundation) and for the support and encouragement of Stu- 
dents in Divinity ; both the said buildings and the interest or 
annual income of the said sum of money to be forever ap- 
propriated and applied by the Trustees aforesaid for the use 
and endowment of such a public Theological Institution in 
Phillips Academy, as is hereinafter described, and on the 

32 



374 APPENDIX. 

following express conditions, namely, that the said Institu- 
tion be accepted by the Trustees aforesaid, and that it be 
forever conducted and governed by them, and their Successors, 
in conformity to the following general Principles and Regula- 
tions, which we unitedly adopt and ratify as the Constitution 
of the same, reserving to ourselves, however, during our natural 
lives the full right, jointly to make any additional Regula- 
tions, or to alter any Rule herein prescribed ; provided such 
Regulation or Alteration be not prejudicial to the true design 
of this Foundation. 

" Art. I. This Institution or Seminary shall be equally 
open to Protestants of every denomination for the admission 
of young men of requisite qualifications. 

" Art. II. Every candidate for admission into this Seminary 
shall produce satisfactory evidence, that he possesses good 
natural and acquired talents, has honorably completed a 
course of liberal education, and sustains a fair moral charac- 
ter. He shall also declare that it is his serious intention to 
devote himself to the work of the gospel ministry, (unless in 
certain peculiar cases it appear to the Trustees, or a Com- 
mittee of their appointment, that the object of this Institu- 
tion will be promoted by excusing a pious Applicant from 
making this declaration) and exhibit proper testimonials of 
his being in full communion with some Church of Christ ; 
in default of which he shall subscribe a declaration of his 
belief of the Christian Religion. 

" Art. III. The Students in this Seminary shall be aided in 
their preparation for the ministry by able Professors ; whose 
duty it shall be, by public and private instruction, to unlock 
the treasures of divine knowledge, to direct the Pupils in their 
inquiries after sacred truth, to guard them against religious 
error, and to accelerate their acquisition of heavenly wisdom. 

" Art. IV. The public instruction shall be given in Lectures 
on Natural Theology, Sacred Literature, Ecclesiastical His- 
tory, Christian Theology, and Pulpit Eloquence. 

" Art. V. In the Lectures on Natural Theology, the exist- 



APPENDIX. 375 

ence, attributes, and providence of God, shall be demon- 
strated ; the soul's immortality and a future state, as deduci- 
ble from the light of nature, discussed ; the obligations of 
man to his Maker, resulting from the divine perfections and 
his own rational nature, enforced ; the great duties of social 
life, flowing from the mutual relations of man to man, incul- 
cated ; and the several personal virtues deduced and deline- 
ated ; the whole being interspersed with remarks on the coin- 
cidence between the dictates of reason and the doctrines of 
revelation, in these primary points ; and notwithstanding such 
coincidence, the necessity and utility of a divine revelation 
stated. 

" Art. VI. Under the head of Sacred Literature shall be in- 
cluded Lectures on the formation, preservation, and trans- 
mission of the Sacred Volume; on the languages, in which 
the Bible was originally written; on the Septuagint version 
of the old Testament, and on the peculiarities of the language 
and style of the new Testament, resulting from this version 
and other causes ; on the history, character, use, and author- 
ity of the ancient versions and manuscripts of the old and 
new Testaments ; on the canons of biblical criticism ; on the 
authenticity of the several books of the sacred Code ; on the 
apocryphal books of both Testaments ; on modern transla- 
tions of the Bible, more particularly on the history and char- 
acter of our English version ; and also critical Lectures on 
the various readings and difficult passages in the sacred 
writings. 

" Art. VII. Under the head of Ecclesiastical History shall 
be comprised Lectures on Jewish antiquities ; on the origin 
and extension of the Christian church in the first three centu- 
tm'ies ; on the various sects and heresies in the early ages of 
Christianity ; on the character and writings of the Fathers ; 
on the establishment of Christianity by Constantine, and its 
subsequent effects ; on the rise and progress of popery and 
Mohammedanism ; on the corruptions of the church of Rome ; 
on the grounds, progress, and doctrines of the reformation ; 



376 APPENDIX. 

on the different denominations among Protestants ; on the 
various constitutions, discipline, and rites of worship, which 
have divided, or may still divide the Christian church ; on the 
state and prevalence of Paganism in our world; and on the 
effect which idolatry, Mohammedanism, and Christianity 
have respectively produced on individual and national char- 
acter. 

" Art. VIII. Under the head of Christian Theoloii:y shall be 
comprehended Lectures on divine revelation; on the inspira- 
tion and truth of the old and new Testaments, as })roved by 
miracles, internal evidence, fulfilment of prophecies, and his- 
toric facts; on the great doctrines and duties of our holy 
Christian Religion, together with the objections made to 
them by unbelievers, and the refutation of such objections ; 
more particularly on the revealed character of God, as 
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ; on the fall of man and the 
depravity of human nature ; on the covenant of grace ; on 
the character, offices, atonement, and mediation of Jesus 
Christ ; on the character and offices of the Holy Spirit ; on 
the Scripture doctrines of regeneration, justification, and 
sanctification ; on evangelical repentance, faith, and obedi- 
ence ; on the nature and necessity of true virtue or gospel 
holiness ; on the future state, the immortality of soul and 
body, and the eternity of future rewards and punishments, as 
revealed in the gospel ; on the positive institutions of Chris- 
tianity ; on the nature, interpretation, and use of prophecy ; 
and on personal religion, as a qualification for the ministry ; 
each Lecture under this head to be preceded and followed by 
prayer. 

" Art. IX. Under the head of Pulpit Eloqvence shall be de- 
livered a com|)etent number of Lectures on the im])ortance 
of oratory; on the invention and disposition of topics; on 
the several parts of a regular discom-se ; on elegance, compo- 
sition, and dignity in style; on pronunciation, or the proper 
management of the voice and correct gesture ; on the im- 
mense importance of a natural manner ; on the rules, to be 



APPENDIX. 377 

observed in composing a sermon, and on the adaptation of 
the principles and precepts of ancient rhetoric to this modern 
species of oration ; on the qualities in the speaker, in his 
style, and in his delivery, necessary to a finished pulpit Ora- 
tor; on the methods of strengthening the memory, and of 
improving in sacred eloquence ; on the character and style 
of the most eminent Divines and best models for imitation, 
their respective beauties and excellences in thought and ex- 
pression ; and above all, on the transcendent simplicity, 
beauty, and sublimity of the Sacred Writings. 

" Art. X. It shall be the duty of the Professors, by private 
instruction and advice, to aid the Students in the acquisition 
of a radical and adequate knowledge of the sacred Scrip- 
tures in their original languages, and of the old Testament 
in the Septuagint version ; to direct their method of studying 
the Bible and all other writings ; to superintend and animate 
their pursuits by frequent inquiries and examinations, relative 
to their progress in books and knowledge ; to assign proper 
subjects for their first compositions, and to suggest a natural 
method of treating them ; frequently and critically to exam- 
ine their early productions, and in a free, but friendly man- 
ner, to point out their defects and errors, in grammar, method, 
reasoning, style, and sentiment ; to improve them in the im- 
portant art of reading, and to give them opportunities of 
speaking in public, favoring them with their candid remarks 
on their whole manner ; to explain intricate texts of Scrip- 
ture, referred to them ; to solve cases of conscience ; to watch 
over their health and morals with paternal solicitude ; and by 
every prudent and christian method, to promote the growth 
of true piety in their hearts ; to give them friendly advice 
with relation to their necessary intercourse among men in 
the various walks of life, and especially with respect to the 
manner, in which it becomes a minister of the meek and 
lowly Jesus to address both God and man, whether in the 
assembly of his saints, or in the chamber of sickness and of 
death. 

32* 



378 APPENDIX. 

" Art. XL Every Professor in this Seminary shall be a 
Master of Arts, of the Protestant reformed religion, in com- 
munion with some Christian Church of the Congregational 
or Presbyterian denomination, and sustain the character of a 
sober, honest, learned, and pious man ; he shall moreover be 
a man of sound and orthodox principles in Divinity, accord- 
ing to that form of sound words or system of evangelical 
doctrines, drawn from the Scriptures, and denominated the 
Westminster Assembly's shorter Catechism, and more con- 
cisely delineated in the Constitution of Phillips Academy. 

" Art. XII. Every person, therefore, appointed or elected a 
Professor in this Seminary, shall on the day of his inaugura- 
tion into office, and in the presence of the said Trustees, 
publicly make and subscribe a solemn Declaration of his 
faith in divine revelation, and in the fundamental and distin- 
gmshing doctrines of the gospel of Christ, as summarily ex- 
pressed in the Westminster Assembly's shorter Catechism ; 
and he shall furthermore solemnly promise, that he will open 
and explain the Scriptures to his Pupils with integrity and 
faithfulness ; that he will maintain and inculcate the Chris- 
tian faith, as above expressed, together with all the other 
doctrines and duties of our holy religion, so far as may ap- 
pertain to his office, according to the best light God shall 
give him ; and in opposition, not only to Atheists and Infi- 
dels, but to Jews, Mohammedans, Arians, Pelagians, Antino- 
mians, Arminians, Socinians, Unitarians, and Universalists, 
and to all other heresies and errors, ancient or modern, which 
may be opposed to the gospel of Christ, or hazardous to the 
souls of men ; — that by his instructions, counsels, and exam- 
ple, he will endeavor to promote true Piety and Godliness ; 
that he will consult the good of this Institution and the 
peace of the churches of our Lord Jesus Christ on all occa- 
sions ; and that he will religiously observe the Statutes of 
this Institution, relative to his official duties and deportment, 
and all such other Statutes and Laws, as shall be constitu- 
tionally made by the Trustees of Phillips Academy, not re- 
pugnant thereto. 



APPENDIX. 379 

" Art. XIII. The preceding Declaration shall be repeated 
by every Professor in this Seminary, in the presence of the 
said Trustees, at the expiration of every successive period 
of five years ; and no man shall be continued a Professor in 
this Institution, who shall not continue to approve himself, 
to the satisfaction of the said Trustees, a man of sound and 
orthodox principles in Divinity, agreeably to the system of 
evangelical doctrines contained in the aforesaid Catechism. 
Accordingly, if at any meeting regularly appointed, it should 
be proved to the satisfaction of a majority of the whole num- 
ber of the said Trustees, that any Professor in this Institu- 
tion has taught or embraced any of the heresies or errors, 
alluded to in the Declaration aforesaid ; or, should he refuse 
to repeat the same, as herein required, he shall be forthwith 
removed from office. 

" Art. XIV. Every Professor in this Institution shall be 
under the immediate inspection of the said Trustees ; and 
by them removed, agreeably to the will of his Founder, for 
gross neglect of duty, scandalous immorality, mental inca- 
pacity, or any just and sufficient cause. 

" Art. XV. Whenever a Professor in this Seminary shall 
be removed by death or otherwise ; the said Trustees shall 
elect a Successor within twelve months. 

" Art. XVI. The Trustees aforesaid, in conformity to the 
Statutes of every Founder, shall assign to the Professors in 
this Seminary their respective departments of instruction, 
the times for reading their lectures, and their several public 
and private duties, in such manner, as, after consultation 
with the said Professors, shall to the said Trustees appear 
most convenient and useful ; provided, however, that the 
course of lectures in each department be always completed 
within the space of three years. 

" Art. XVII. The necessary expenses of indigent Students 
at this Seminary, for board, lodging, washing, fuel, and light, 
will be defrayed out of funds, appropriated to this purpose, 
agreeably to the Regulations, in such case provided, and as 
said funds may permit. 



380 APPENDIX. 

" Art. XVIII. No person shall be admitted a Student on 
the charitable Foundation who is not distinguished by nat- 
ural abilities, literary acquirements, unblemished morals, and 
hopeful piety ; a certificate of which qualities will be required 
from known and respectable characters in order to the enjoy- 
ment of this charity. 

" Art. XIX. To be entitled to the maintenance aforesaid, 
each Student on the charitable Foundation, unless prevented 
by sickness, must reside at this Seminary eight months at 
least in each year, regularly attending the exercises aforesaid, 
as well as diligently prosecuting the studies prescribed, and 
in all respects conforming to the Rules of this Constitution, 
and to the Laws and Orders of the said Trustees. 

" Art. XX. Whatever may be the number of vacations, the 
aggregate thereof shall not exceed twelve weeks in any one 
year ; and the constant presence of the Professors and Stu- 
dents wiU be expected in term time. 

" Art. XXI. Every Student in this Seminary shall con- 
stantly, punctually, and seriously attend the religious exer- 
cises of the chapel morning and evening, and all the public 
lectures of the several Professors ; and, to increase the rever- 
ence, due to religious institutions, as well as to give weight 
to public instruction, it is expected, that the Professors not 
only frequent the chapel at morning and evening prayers, but 
that they constantly attend each other's public lectures. 

" Art. XXII. Every Student in this Seminary is required to 
devote so much time to the study of the learned languages, 
as shall increase his knowledge of them, especially of the 
Greek and Hebrew languages ; to pay due attention to 
Philology, Rhetoric, and Oratory ; to read the best treatises 
on natural and revealed Religion, and on the fundamental 
doctrines of the Gospel ; to make himself master of the 
principal arguments and evidences of the truth of Christian- 
ity ; to pay due attention to ecclesiastical History, and to the 
canons of biblical Criticism. But above all, it is required, 
that he make the BIBLE the object of his most attentive, 
diligent, and prayerful study. 



APPENDIX. 381 

" Art. XXIII. It will be the duty of the Professors in this 
Seminary to prepare a list of such books, and to point out 
such a course of study, as in their opinion may be the most 
congenial to the true design of this Institution, and most 
beneficial to the Students in it; which list of books and 
course of study, being approved by said Trustees, said Stu- 
dents shall pursue ; they shall also frequently ask the advice 
and assistance of the Professors with reference to their 
studies ; and often submit their theological compositions, 
especially their first essays, to the friendly inspection and 
faithful remarks of one or more of the said Professors. 

" Art. XXIV. Each Student, once at least in every year, 
shall acquaint the Professors with the books he has read, and 
with his course of study during said year ; and shall also be 
examined in the original languages of the Old and New 
Testament, and in the Septuagint version of the former ; also 
with reference to the leading sentiments and arguments of 
the principal authors he has perused ; but especially with 
respect to the style, character, and design of those sacred 
writers, which agreeably to direction he has particularly 
studied. 

" Art. XXV. If upon due and impartial examination it be 
found, that any Student on the charitable Foundation afore- 
said, has not made reasonable proficiency in the studies pre- 
scribed him, he shall be continued thereon no longer ; and, if 
any Student whatever in this Seminary shall be guilty of any 
gross immorality, or of any insult or oppugnation to the 
said Trustees, or to any Professor or Officer of this Sem- 
inary, he shall be cut off from all the advantages and benefits 
of this Institution, unless he make reasonable and immediate 
satisfaction for his offence. 

" Art. XXVL Whenever a Student shall have honorably 
finished his term and course of study under the direction of 
the Professors, and such Student shall request it ; a Certifi- 
cate, signed by the Professors, specifying how long such Stu- 
dent has studied under the direction, and attended the lee- 



382 APPENDIX. 

tures of the Professors, that he has prosecuted his studies 
with diligence, and sustained a good moral character, shall be 
given him ; provided always, that his conduct, and profi- 
ciency in theological knowledge be such, as to merit the 
same. 

" Art. XX VIL After the expiration of the first three years 
from the opening of this Institution, it will be required of 
all persons, who may wish to enjoy the advantages of the 
same, that they statedly reside at the Seminary three full 
years, vacations excepted ; a period scarcely sufficient for 
acquiring that fund of knowledge, which is necessary for a 
minister of the gospel. No Student, therefore, after the ex- 
piration of the first three years of the Institution, shall be en- 
titled to the Certificate aforesaid ; nor can any one leave the 
Seminary in an honorable manner, within the term of three 
years of such residence, except by permission, specially ob- 
tained of the Trustees, in case of necessity. 

"Art. XXVIII. Every morning and evening, during the 
term time, religious exercises shall be performed in the chapel, 
and these exercises shall usually be, as follows. The divine 
assistance and blessing shall be first implored in a short 
prayer ; a devotional chapter or psalm shall then be read, ac- 
companied with pious and practical reflections ; or, instead 
of this, once at least in every week, an exposition shall be 
given upon some deeply interesting passage of scripture ; to 
this shall succeed a piece of genuine psalmody ; and the 
services be concluded by an appropriate prayer. In these 
exercises the Professors shall preside, and ordinarily officiate; 
but Students of two years standing may occasionally per- 
form them in whole or in part, according to the desire and 
direction of the Professors. Moreover as soon as circum- 
stances will permit, a regular Church will be formed in this 
Seminary, consisting chiefly of the Professors, Students, and 
families, connected with this Seminary and Phillips Acad- 
emy ; after which, if not before, divine services will be pub- 
licly celebrated in the chapel of the Seminary, in the fore- 



APPENDIX. 383 

noon and afternoon of every Lord's day during term time. 
These services shall be usually performed by the Professors ; 
but sometimes by such senior Students as may have obtained 
permission of the Professors to preach occasionally ; and 
they shall be attended by all the Students of this Institution, 
and by as many of the families of the Professors and Offi- 
cers, connected with it, or with Phillips Academy, as may 
wish for this privilege, and by as many pupils of said Acade- 
my as may be deemed expedient by the Trustees aforesaid. 

" Art. XXIX. The senior Students will be required, not 
only to prepare sermons, but occasionally to deliver them in 
public, both in the Seminary and in neighboring congre- 
gations, as may be judged expedient by the said Professors. 
No Student, however, shall presume to preach, before, 
upon thorough examination of his qualifications and motives 
for preaching, he shall have obtained a written permission 
therefor, subscribed by the Professors, or a major part of 
them. This permission, however, is never to supersede the 
customary approbation or license of some regular Association 
or Presbytery. 

" Art. XXX. Sacred Music, and especially Psalmody, be- 
ing an important part of public, social worship ; and as it 
is proper for those, who are to preside in the assemblies of 
God's people, to possess themselves of so much skill and 
taste in this sublime art, as at least to distinguish between 
those solemn movements, which are congenial to pious 
minds, and those unhallowed, trifling, medley pieces which 
chill devotion ; it is expected that serious attention will be 
paid to the cultiu-e of a true taste for genuine Church Music 
in this Seminary ; and that all Students therein, who have 
tolerable voices, will be duly instructed in the theory and 
practice of this celestial art ; and whenever it shall be in the 
power of either of the said Professors, it shall accordingly 
be his duty to afford this necessary instruction ; and when- 
ever this shall not be the case, it is expected that an In- 
structor will be procured for this purpose. 



384 APPENDIX. 

" Art. XXXI. All Professors, OfRcers, and Students in this 
Seminary, and all other persons employed in its service, to- 
gether with the Lands, Buildings, Library, Funds, and aU 
other Property, thereto belonging, shall be under the imme- 
diate inspection and government of the Tbustees aforesaid ; 
and be regulated and managed by them in strict conformity 
to this Constitution, and to the Statutes and Will of every 
Founder of a Professorship or Benefactor of this Institution. 
And the said Trustees are hereby authorized and empowered 
to make such additional Regulations (not inconsistent with 
the Regulations established in this Constitution^ nor with 
the Statutes or Will of any Founder or Donor, nor with the 
object of this Institution, nor in any degree avoiding them, 
or either of them), as they in their wisdom shall deem neces- 
sary to give the fullest efficacy to these provisions, or to the 
consistent provisions of future Benefactors ; whether such 
Regulations may relate to the conduct of the Professors, the 
government of the Students, their various duties and exer- 
cises, their lodgings and diet, the prevention and punishment 
of offences, the preservation of health, the promotion of 
order, peace, and harmony, to the safety of the Buildings, or 
to the security of the Funds, which last are to be effectually 
guarded against all loss and diminution ; in a word, to do 
every thing, under the foregoing limitations, which, upon seri- 
ous and mature deliberation, may appear to them necessary 
to secure and promote the true object of this Institution. 

"Art. XXXII. Notwithstanding this Seminary is placed 
by this Constitution under the immediate care and govern- 
ment of the Trustees of Phillips Academy ; it is always to 
be understood, and it is hereby expressly declared, that every 
Founder of a Professorship, Scholarship, or any other Living 
whatever in this Institution, will have the exclusive right 
of prescribing the Regulations and Statutes, to be observed 
by the said Trustees in conducting the concerns of the same, 
said Regulations and Statutes being always consistent with 
the principles and object of this Institution; and also the 



APPENDIX. 385 

right, for the term of his life, of appointing in the original deed 
or grant, such local Visitor or Visitors, as he may think 
proper, and to endow him or them with all visitatorial pow- 
ers and authorities, necessary to secure and enforce due ob- 
servance and execution of his said Regulations and Statutes. 

"Art. XXXIII. Whereas the necessary business of this 
Seminary will be sufficient to employ the said Trustees one 
day at least in every year ; they are requested to hold an an- 
nual meeting for transacting the same, on such day in each 
year, as they may appoint ; and likewise to meet as much 
oftener as the good of said Seminary may require ; and at 
each annual meeting to read this Constitution. The rules 
and modes of doing business at all such meetings shall be 
the same, mutatis vmtandis, which are prescribed in the Con- 
stitution of Phillips Academy. Decent, not extravagant 
entertainment shall be made for the Trustees, while attend- 
ing such meetings ; reasonable compensation made to the 
Treasurer of said Academy for his services ; and other nec- 
essary expenses of this Institution defrayed out of the 
income of its Funds. It is also particularly requested, that 
all the transactions of the said Trustees, relative to the said 
Theological Institution, be recorded in a distinct book ; and 
likewise that all property given, devised, or bequeathed for 
the support of this Seminary, be separated and for ever kept 
distinct from all other property, to the Trustees aforesaid in 
any way or for any other purpose intrusted, being never 
blended therewith, in any part or degree, by loan or purchase; 
and that the said Treasurer accordingly keep all his accounts 
and entries, relative to these Funds, in distinct books ; and 
all moneys, evidences of property, receipts, papers, and books 
of account, appertaining to this Institution, in a separate 
trunk or chest, prepared for prompt removal on any emer- 
gence ; and that the accounts of said Treasurer be annually 
audited by a Committee, for this purpose appointed, who 
shall report to the said Trustees in writing. 

" Art. XXXIV. Confiding in the wisdom and fidelity of 

33 



Q 



8G APPENDIX. 



the said Trustees and their Successors in office, and with 
the pleasing hope and expectation, that they will religiously 
appropriate the aforesaid Buildings, and the income of the 
aforesaid Fund, and of all future Donations for the same 
pious purpose, to the great object of supporting a Theologi- 
cal Seminary, such as herein contemplated and described, 
agreeably to the Principles and Regulations contained in 
this Constitution ; we do now under God cheerfully commit 
this our Foundation to their pious and watchful care ; trust- 
ing that no exertion on their part will be wanting to the suc- 
cess of an Institution, so intimately connected with the 
glory of God, the advancement of the Redeemer's kingdom, 
and the salvation of their fellow-men. 

" But, while we thus express our conviction of the necessity 
and utility of this Institution, it is our earnest prayer, that 
our own minds, and the minds of the Trustees, Professors, 
Students, and all connected therewith, may be ever pene- 
trated by a deep sense of the necessity of the Divine direc- 
tion, influence, and blessing, to render even the wisest pro- 
visions and the best human instructions ultimately successful. 

" To the Spirit of truth, to the Divine Author of our faith, 
to the only Wise GOD, we desire in sincerity to present this 
our humble offering ; devoutly imploring the Father of 
lights, richly to endue with wisdom from above all his ser- 
vants, the Trustees of this Seminary ; and with spiritual 
understanding the Professors therein ; that, being illuminated 
by the Holy Spirit, their doctrine may drop as the rain, and 
their speech distil, as the dew; and that their Pupils may 
become trees of renown in the courts of our God, whereby 
He may be glorified. 

" In witness whereof we, the Subscribers, have hereunto set 
our hands and seals this thirty-first day of August in the 
year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seven. 

"''^"irptt'utrof"'^"' Phcebe Phillips, (S.) 

" Samuel Stearns, j^^^^ Phillips, Jun. (S.) 

"Joseph Phelps, 

« Amos Blanchard. Samuel Abbot. (S.)" 



APPENDIX. 387 

The Foundation of the Theological Seminary originating 
in the Phillips family, in connection with the Academy, as 
set forth in the preceding Constitution, was, after the lapse 
of a few months, enlarged by a union with the Associate 
Founders, Messrs. Bartlet, Brown, and Norris, on the basis of 
the Associate Statutes, and of additional Statutes by Madam 
Phillips and son, and Mr. Abbot ; in both of which, provis- 
ion was made for a Board of Visitors to act with the Board 
of Trustees, and a more full and elaborate Creed was pre- 
scribed. This Creed we here give, as adjusted to the original 
Constitution in these additional Statutes. After a brief pre- 
amble, the Founders say : — 

" Having provided in the twelfth Article of our said Con- 
stitution, that ' every person, appointed or elected a Professor 
in the said Seminary, shall, on the day of his inauguration 
into office, publicly make and subscribe a Declaration of his 
faith in Divine Revelation, and in the fundamental and dis- 
tinguishing doctrines of the Gospel of Christ, as summarily 
expressed in the Westminster Assembly's Shorter Catechism : ' 
"We now ordain the following addition, to be inserted in said 
Article, in connection with the said clause, namely, 'and as 
more particularly expressed in the following Creed, to wit, 

" ' I believe that there is one and but one living and true 
God ; that the word of God, contained in the Scriptures of 
the Old and New Testament, is the only perfect rule of faith 
and practice ; that agreeably to those Scriptures God is a 
Spirit infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wis- 
dom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth ; that in 
the Godhead are three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the 
Holy Ghost ; and that these Three are One GOD, the same 
in substance, equal in power and glory ; that God created 
man after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and 
holiness ; that the glory of God is man's chief end, and the 
enjoyment of God his supreme happiness ; that this enjoy- 
ment is derived solely from conformity of heart to the moral 
character and will of God ; that Adam, the federal head and 



388 APPENDIX. 

representative of the human race, was placed in a state of 
probation, and that, in consequence of his disobedience, all 
his descendants were constituted sinners ; that by nature 
every man is personally depraved, destitute of holiness, unlike 
and opposed to God ; and that, previously to the renewing 
agency of the Divine Spirit, all his moral actions are ad- 
verse to the character and glory of God ; that, being morally 
incapable of recovering the image of his Creator, which was 
lost in Adam, every man is justly exposed to eternal damna- 
tion ; so that, except a man be born again, he cannot see the 
kingdom of God; that God, of his mere good pleasure, from 
all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, and that he en- 
tered into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of this 
state of sin and misery by a Redeemer; that the only Re- 
deemer of the elect is the eternal Son of God, who for this 
purpose became man, and continues to be God and man in 
two distinct natures and one person forever ; that Christ, as 
our Redeemer, executeth the office of a Prophet, Priest, and 
King ; that, agreeably to the covenant of redemption, the 
Son of God, and he alone, by his sufferings and death, has 
made atonement for the sins of all men ; that repentance, 
faith, and holiness are the personal requisites in the Gospel 
scheme of salvation ; that the righteousness of Christ is the 
only ground of a sinner's justification ; that this righteous- 
ness is received through faith ; and that this faith is the gift 
of God ; so that our salvation is wholly of grace ; that no 
means whatever can change the heart of a sinner and make 
it holy ; that regeneration and sanctification are effects of the 
creating and renewing agency of the Holy Spirit, and that 
supreme love to God constitutes the essential difference be- 
tween saints and sinners ; that by convincing us of our sin 
and misery, enlightening our minds, working faith in us, and 
renewing our wills, the Holy Spirit makes us partakers of 
the benefits of redemption; and that the ordinary means, by 
which these benefits are communicated to us, are the word, 
sacraments, and prayer; that repentence unto life, faith to 



APPENDIX. 389 

feed upon Christ, love to God, and new obedience, are the 
appropriate qualifications for the Lord's Supper ; and that a 
Christian Church ought to admit no person to its holy com- 
munion, before he exhibit credible evidence of his godly sin- 
cerity ; that perseverance in holiness is the only method of 
making our calling and election sure ; and that the final per- 
severance of saints, though it is the effect of the special open 
operation of God on their hearts, yet necessarily implies their 
own watchful diligence ; that they, who are effectually called, 
do in this life partake of justification, adoption, and sancti- 
fication, and the several benefits, which do either accompany 
or flow from them ; that the souls of believers are at their 
death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into 
glory ; that their bodies, being still united to Christ, will at 
the resurrection be raised up to glory, and that the saints will 
be made perfectly blessed in the full enjoyment of God to all 
eternity ; but that the wicked will awake to shame and ever- 
lasting contempt, and with devils be plunged into the lake 
that burneth with fire and brimstone forever and ever. I 
moreover believe that God, according to the counsel of his 
own will, and for his own glory, hath foreordained whatsoever 
comes to pass, and that all beings, actions, and events, both 
in the natural and moral world, are under his providential 
direction ; that God's decrees perfectly consist with human 
liberty ; God's universal agency with the agency of man ; 
and man's dependence with his accountability ; that man has 
understanding and corporeal strength to do all that God re- 
quires of him ; so that nothing but the sinner's aversion to 
holiness, prevents his salvation ; that it is the prerogative of 
God to bring good out of evil, and that he will cause the 
wrath and rage of wicked men and devils to praise Him ; 
and that all the evil which has existed, and will forever exist 
in the moral system, will eventually be made to promote a 
most important purpose under the wise and perfect admin- 
istration of that Almighty Being, who will cause all things 
to work for his own glory, and thus fulfil all his pleasure.' " 



390 APPENDIX. 

In pursuance of the stipulations embodied in this Consti- 
tution, buildings were promptly erected, larger even than was 
contemplated at first, and in September, 1808, the Institution 
was in due form opened for the reception of students. After 
the sale of the mansion-house to the Trustees, Madam Phil- 
lips removed to the house of Samuel Farrar, Esquire, then 
recently erected ; where in full view of the noble work upon 
which she had concentrated her gifts and prayers, she passed 
the evening of her life, and finally rested from her labors, 
October 31, 1812, in the seventieth year of her age. 

It deserves to be here added, as a fact of special interest, 
that the family tie of blood and sympathy which through her 
and her son linked the later as well as the earlier Institution 
Avith the name of Phillips as one ever more in their aims and 
destiny, has been still further strengthened by the congenial 
efforts of other distinguished donors of the same genealogy. 

Lieutenant-Governor William Phillips, of Boston, who 
was the honored President of the Board of Trustees for many 
years, added to his earnest counsels and prayers for the Sem- 
inary, as mentioned in the text, his frequent gifts while he 
lived, and his legacy for the library and for the aid of indi- 
gent students at his death. 

Samuel Abbot, Esquire, of Andover, who united with 
Madam Phillips and her son, in the founding of the Semi- 
nary, by endowing the Abbot Professorship of Christian 
Theology, was a grandson of Samuel Phillips, Esquire, the 
goldsmith at Salem. ^ 

The wife of Moses Brown, Esquire, of Newburyport, the 
founder of the Brown Professorship of Ecclesiastical History, 
was a great-grand-daughter of the Salem goldsmith also,^ 
and the Seminary is not only largely indebted to her munifi- 
cent husband, but to her own benefactions, and especially to 
the liberality of her granddaughter, Mrs. Sarah W. Hale, 
widow of Ebenezer Hale, M. D., who a few years since 

' Bond, Gen. and Hist of Watertown, 902. * Ibid, 



APPENDIX. 391 

added to the original endowment of the Brown Professor- 
ship a donation of four thousand dollars to provide a house 
for the Professor. 

Mrs. Sarah Abbot, also, (widow of Mr. Nehemiah Abbot,) 
who was the chief founder of our Abbot Female Academy, 
as well as a zealous friend of the Seminary, was a great-great- 
granddaughter of the same Mr. Phillips at Salem.^ 

^ Bond, Gen. and Hist, of Watertown, 888. 



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